Chuck vs The Ninja Librarian
by quistie64
Summary: Chuck and Sarah use the resources of a ninja librarian to take down Vivian Volkoff. That's right. I said "Ninja Librarian."
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic on this site. Please be gentle. Or not. All reviews are appreciated.

I don't own Chuck. But I do own a life-size cardboard cutout of Elvis, resplendent in his black leather outfit worn in his 1968 Christmas "Comeback" TV special, which was procured from a liquor store in Vegas. Truly.

This story takes place after "Chuck vs. The Family Volkoff" 4.20.

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Chapter 1: 616.6922

They both leaned forward, their elbows on the Nerd Herd desk, he on the inside of the circular desk, she on the outside. Their heads were inches apart as they both stared down at the iPhone held in Chuck's hand. When he was this close to her, her scent intoxicated him and he could barely string two thoughts together. Her shoulder brushed against his…

"I don't care what Groupon has available today, Chuck. I'm not eating lunch at Lou's Deli."

The edge in her voice snapped him back to reality. "But Sarah, this isn't Lou's Deli, L-O-U, this is Lew, L-E-W. It's a completely different place."

"I don't care if it's spelled L-I-E-U or even L-O-O, for that matter, I'm not eating anywhere that sounds like Lou's Deli." As if to ensure that he completely understood her meaning, he received a withering glare from her blue eyes. He gulped. Her eyes softened, but a glint remained when she dropped her voice and said, "Besides. I had my heart set on going to In-n-Out today. You know how I like my Double-Doubles," she leaned in to him, her lips brushed against his ear as she whispered, "Animal Style."

Chuck felt his knees grow weak and nearly fell to the floor. "You do like your pickles," he managed to reply huskily as he caught the wicked grin on her face.

At that moment, they both heard someone clear their throat in front of the Nerd Herd desk. Both Chuck and Sarah stood straight up and turned toward the sound. Standing there was a petite woman holding a laptop in her hands. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't interrupt, but I was hoping the Nerd Herd could help me."

Chuck smiled at the customer, but thought to himself, "Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Trouble!" Chuck cut a look toward Sarah. She had risen to her full, intimidating height, her arms crossed in front of her, her eyes hooded. Chuck saw Sarah assess the current "threat" who stood before her. Two dangerous seconds passed before a smile broke out on Sarah's face. Chuck chanced another cautious glance Sarah's way and was relieved to see the smile reached Sarah's eyes. Her arms were still folded across her chest, but she was clearly more relaxed, leaning her hip against the desk. Chuck let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. During Sarah's "threat assessment," Casey had silently positioned himself behind the Nerd Herd desk, ready to move in if the situation warranted. Chuck turned his head slightly toward Casey, gave a slight nod and a small smile which indicated that everything was okay. Casey raised his chin slightly to show Chuck he received his "all clear" signal. Casey then lowered his chin and looked pointedly at Chuck as if to say, "Don't let your guard down."

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, as she smiled at the customer. "My fiancé and I were just discussing where we should go for lunch." At this, Chuck took a second to ascertain Sarah's quick acceptance of this customer. Petite, 5 foot 2 inches at the most. Petite was usually bad. Early 40's, wearing jeans, white trainers and a blue t-shirt that said, "Librarian by Day, Deadly Ninja by Night" in big black letters. Huh. Shoulder length blonde hair. He knew Sarah was usually suspicious of blondes because they were just brunettes trying to trick her. When he saw a few gray hairs sprinkled amongst the blonde, he realized she was a natural blonde. He let out another quiet sigh of relief.

"Fiancé, huh? I was hoping you were more than a just customer to him," the customer answered with a smile. "If he had to give all his customers that kind of customer service, it could get awkward for everyone."

At that, Sarah nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, it sure would," cutting a sideways smile at Chuck.

"And congratulations on your engagement. May you have a lifetime of happiness," the customer said with nod.

"Thank you," Chuck and Sarah replied in unison as Chuck put his hand on Sarah's back. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I have this PC laptop that is really slow and takes forever to start up. Seriously, I can turn this thing on, watch an episode of _Top Gear_ and it might be done booting by the time the boys make their way across Botswana. My husband said you might have a utility disk you could run to get rid of some of the useless junk in the startup files. And I hope you don't have any questions for me because I memorized what I was supposed to say to you. My computer knowledge is thus at an end," she said with a bow.

Chuck smiled and said, "Well, I think I can help you out with no additional information needed from you. It will take about 15 minutes to run the utility. I have some time to do it before lunch," this was said more as a question aimed at Sarah than a statement. When Sarah nodded back to him, Chuck continued. "So you can leave it and come back later or you could just wait around while I work on it."

"Oh, I've got time. I'll wait. My husband loves gadgets, so maybe I'll wander around and try to find something to give him for our anniversary coming up in a couple of months." She handed the computer over the desk to Chuck, who turned in on. After what seemed like forever, the blank screens and spinning blue Tron disk finally gave way to the desktop screen.

"Man, you weren't kidding. This thing really needs some help."

"Well, sir. That's why I'm here." She hesitated for a moment and then said with a slight smile, "I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation about where you two should go for lunch. I've got agree with your fiancé here," glancing at his badge, "Chuck. I wouldn't want to eat at L-O-O's Deli either. Gross."

Sarah smirked and shot a "Ha! See I told you so" look at Chuck who shrugged and smiled while he inserted the disk into the drive of the customer's computer. The customer was about to move away from the desk when another Nerd Herder moved in next to her. Chuck saw her glance to her right to see a rather disheveled looking Herder with crazy blond hair staring at the words on her chest.

"How may I service you?" Jeff asked with a leer.

"Uh, Jeff, I got this…" Chuck started.

"I saw your shirt. Are you really a librarian?" Jeff droned.

"Um. Yeah," the customer answered cautiously.

"Cool. Is it true that 'Librarians do it by the book?'" Jeff asked with a smirk on his face.

By now, both Sarah and Casey were beginning to move toward Jeff, ready to hustle him away before he could send the librarian screaming from the Buy More.

But to everyone's surprise, the customer smiled sweetly and leaned a little closer to Jeff. "You know, Jeff," flicking an amused look toward Sarah and Chuck, "you'd be surprised at what I can do with a roll of book tape, a kick-stool and a due date stamp."

At that, Casey, Chuck and Sarah's eyes grew wide. They stood there, rooted to the floor. Chuck saw that Jeff's brain had completely seized up; his eyes bulged and his jaw was slack.

The customer continued in a low, sultry voice. "Do you have a library card, Jeff? You should. Everyone should have a library card. Libraries can be really fun. You can learn all kinds of stuff there. I'll tell you what. Go to the nearest library and wait for me there. Burbank has to have a library, right? Meet me in the stacks in the Dewey Decimal number section 616.6922. Make sure you ask a reference librarian to show you where that section is. Tell them those books reflect the real you." As she said this, she smiled wickedly, grabbed Jeff's hand with her left hand and a Sharpie pen from his shirt's pocket protector with her right. She wrote the Dewey number on the palm of his hand, dropped it and put the pen back in his pocket. By now, Jeff's "partner in crime" Lester had seen another human being actually touched Jeff and wanted to get in on whatever was happening.

"So, Jeffrey. What have we here? Ah, a purveyor of knowledge. A kindly yet… wicked ninja-librarian," Lester smarmed as he approached the two. "What is it you two are discussing?"

The customer winked at Lester and said, "Oh, just about books that reflect what kind of men you and Jeff really are. We're going to meet at the library and take a look at them together. You can come, too. There's enough book tape for everyone. Now you two run along. Don't be late!" She winked again, spun them so they faced the front entrance of the Buy More and gave them both a shove in their backs. The actual touch of another human being made them feel like they had been branded through their shirts. They ran out the door as they shouted to each other, "Where's the closest library?"

As the two Nerd Herders sprinted away, the customer turned back around toward Chuck and Sarah with a grin on her face. "Well, that was fun!" Chuck and Sarah continued to stand rooted in place with a look of shock on their faces. Casey grunted his approval and wore an admiring smirk on his face. "What?" she asked.

"How…how…how did you do that? You're not really going to…" Chuck stammered and pointed at the front entrance.

"Ha!" the customer nearly snorted. "Ew! Gross. No. I used to work in a public library. Those two are nothing compared to what I've had to deal with before. Librarians have to be quick on their feet and ready for any situation!"

"I'll say. That was most impressive. You really are quite ninja-like," Sarah laughed.

"Well, I don't know about that. Like I said, not my first time dealing with stuff like that. Now, no offense to your co-workers, but I really feel the need to wash my hands. Could you point me towards…" She had her hands out and had a questioning look on her face.

"Oh! Sure. Right. The restrooms are right over there," Chuck pointed.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few," she said over her shoulder as she walked toward the restroom.

Chuck, Sarah and Casey continued to stare at each other, dumbfounded at what they had just seen. It took them all a couple of minutes to shake themselves from their stupor.

"Well, I don't know about you," Chuck said, "but my attitude about librarians has changed."

Casey nodded and said, "I'm going to make sure my library books get returned in time. I don't want her coming after me with overdue charges." Sarah's eyebrows shot up as she looked at Casey. "What? Like the woman said, 'Everyone should have a library card.' Besides, I like to read a little Clancy every now and then."

"Ah, Clancy. I bet you're a Robert Ludlum fan, too," the customer said as she walked up. "I wonder if being a spy is really as ninja as Ludlum makes the Bourne stories to be."

The three real life spies laughed nervously and Sarah said, "No, it's probably all just fiction."

The customer narrowed her eyes for a split second and then the smile returned. "I'm sorry," she addressed Sarah. "I can get everyone else's names from their nametags, but haven't gotten yours. I assume you don't work here. For one thing, you are too nicely dressed. My name is Jen. Now that my hands are clean, I don't mind offering you a handshake," she put hand out toward Sarah.

"Hi, Jen. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sarah," she said as she shook Jen's hand warmly.

Jen's eyes lit up when she heard the name. "That's my daughter's name! I love that name! It means 'princess' in Hebrew, you know."

Sarah smiled shyly as she said, "Yeah, I've heard that. Chuck told me that some time ago," looking over at Chuck.

"I'll bet he did. Points for you, Chuck," Jen smiled. "I hope my Sarah will grow up to be a gorgeous as you. She just started high school and is in kind of an awkward stage."

Chuck saw Sarah wince. He knew she was thinking of her own awkward years in high school. Sarah said, "Been there, done that. Tell her it will get better."

"Thanks, I will."

Chuck cleared his throat and said, "Well, your computer is all set. It should boot up faster now. If there are any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to come back. Just make sure I'm at the desk and not Jeff or Lester."

"No kidding. Oh, and I found something for my husband for our anniversary. He's wanted to get the original _Tron_ on DVD for the longest time and I see that it finally came out." She handed the DVD to Chuck.

"An excellent choice!" Chuck said with a grin. "One of my personal all time favorites." Sarah could only roll her eyes.

Jen paid for the computer service and the DVD. She retrieved her computer and the DVD in the yellow and green Buy More bag and turned to leave. Sarah said, "I just have to ask. What does the Dewey Decimal number that you wrote on Jeff's hand mean? The one you told him to be sure to tell the reference librarian reflected the real him?"

"Oh, that!" A look of mischief crossed her face as she said, "Yeah. Um, those are all the books on erectile dysfunction."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter. A special thank you to all who reviewed it. I've read other writers say how much they enjoy getting feedback but never really understood it until it happened to me! It really is rather thrilling! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Please let me know what you think.

Insert standard "don't own Chuck or anything else involved in this story" disclaimer here. No money is being made. Move along to the story. Thank you.

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Chapter 2 – 091.22

Chuck had long ago become used to the looks that came their way whenever he went anywhere with Sarah. She was so stunning. He knew all eyes would be on her as soon as she walked in a room. His chest swelled with pride that this gorgeous creature was with him. She was the picture of class and sophistication. Her Kryptonite, however, was In-N-Out Burger.

Sarah made noises when she ate her animal style Double-Double. Not the normal, "Mm. This is good" noises. No, the sounds that would emanate from her would make a porn star blush. At first bite, her eyes would close and as she chewed she would make low guttural moans deep in her throat indicating the intense pleasure of the experience. Heads would turn toward them. The second bite usually elicited an, "Oh, Chuck. This is soooo goooood," purr that sounded as if it should have been reserved for the privacy of their bedroom. Heads would then turn away in embarrassment. These noises would continue until the burger was completely consumed.

The first time this had happened, Chuck felt like sliding under the table and disappearing. He knew that wasn't an option, so he just concentrated on his own burger, careful to not make eye contact with anyone else in the place. On a later visit, he had worked up the nerve to broach the subject with her and said, "Wow, Sarah. You are really enthusiastic when you eat here. Um, do you think, though, that it might be bothering, you know, the other customers when you are so…um…vocal when you eat?"

In response, he had received a withering glare. "Or… or… or…" he had babbled, "people can mind their own business and let you eat in peace." The glare had been replaced with a twinkle.

Since then, Chuck had learned to enjoy their trips to In-N-Out. Honestly, it was kind of a turn-on. Unfortunately, that was a potential for others as well. Once, Chuck noticed a tableful of teenage boys staring at Sarah as she ate. Those boys did not blink. Those boys did not move. Those boys barely breathed. He understood. He didn't really think much about it until one of the boys shook off his stupor long enough to take out his cell phone and took a video her. Chuck tried to move his body to block it, but he wasn't sure if he was successful. He found out two days later that he had indeed failed. He had to misappropriate CIA resources to hack into YouTube and remove the video on several different occasions. Although removed from YouTube, that video became the stuff of legend amongst the teenage boys in the greater Burbank area.

Today, however, their trip to In-N-Out had been uneventful. It was lunchtime and the place was packed. Burger patties fried on the grill while the French fry guy shoved raw potato after raw potato through the slicer. Chuck had stood in line to place their order while Sarah had circled through the eating area, waiting for a table to open up. There was a whole zen to the operation. As she passed each table she looked to see how far along the occupants were with their meals. Finally, she had found her mark. The people at the table were gathering up their detritus as she sidled up to it, ready to sit down as soon as they moved away. Unfortunately, there was another woman who had the same idea. After a dangerous look from Sarah, the other woman had moved on and Sarah slid happily into the booth.

They enjoyed their lunch together. Because it was so busy, it was loud and no one noticed Sarah's enthusiasm over her Double-Double. They chatted and laughed at what had happened earlier in the day with Jeff, Lester and the "ninja librarian."

"She was really something, wasn't she? Who knew librarians could be so ninja," Sarah laughed.

"Ha! I know." Chucked glanced around. "Hey, weird. There she is."

Chuck nodded his head toward where Jen was standing, receipt in hand, waiting for her food to be ready and her number to be called.

"Should we ask her to come over to sit with us?" Sarah asked. "Would you mind?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. Hey, Jen! Jen!"

Jen looked up and glanced around the room, trying to find the voice calling her name. Recognition crossed her face and a shy smile formed when she saw Chuck and Sarah waving her over to their table.

She walked over to their booth. "Hey, guys. You probably think I'm a stalker, but after your conversation at the Buy More today, I realized I had to come here for lunch myself."

"Won't you sit with us?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, no thanks. I don't want to interrupt. You've seen enough of me today," she said with all sincerity.

"No, really," Chuck said. "We really don't mind. Besides, this place is packed and you won't find a place to sit. You don't want to eat in your car, do you?" By now, Sarah had moved to the other side of the booth and sat next to Chuck, leaving the other side of the booth empty.

She smiled. "No. Not really. Eating in my car never turns out well. Thanks." She slid into the empty side of the booth and gave grateful smile.

"We were just talking about what you did to Jeff and Lester today. That was hilarious. So, do you think they're still waiting for you at the library?" Sarah asked with a laugh.

"Oh, I hope not. I hated to sic those two on those hard working librarians, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm sure they'll find something to occupy their time. Maybe they'll even learn something. " She laughed at Chuck and Sarah's skeptical faces. "Or not." When she heard her number called, she went to the counter to get her food. She came back with her tray and sat down.

"Ah," Chuck said. "You're a purist, I see. Regular Double-Double, not animal style?"

"No animal style for me. But that's the way my husband orders them." She picked up her burger and took a bite. Her eyes closed and she let out a guttural groan. "Oh. That is soooo gooood," she murmured.

Chuck's eyes opened wide and Sarah tried to hide her grin behind her hand. She couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped.

Jen's eyes snapped open. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said when she realized the noise that had escaped her. "I'm so embarrassed. It just comes over me and I just can't help it. This is the only place that does that to me. My husband has gotten used to it, but my daughter is mortified to eat with me here."

Sarah grinned and replied, "That's okay, Jen. We understand, don't we, Honey." She bumped Chuck with her shoulder.

"More than you know," he grinned back at Sarah, kissing her cheek.

"So," Jen started, "Chuck, we've established that you work as a Nerd Herd guy at the Buy More. Sarah, what do you do?"

Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped. Chuck knew she was about to answer that she worked at the Orange Orange frozen yogurt shop across from the Buy More. But thinking back, when was the last time he had even seen her wear the white pants and orange tank top? Had those clothes even made it to their apartment when she moved in with him? What was her cover, anyway? Did she even need one anymore? It seemed like everyone with the exception of Jeff, Lester and Big Mike, knew that she was a CIA agent. Huh. His brow furrowed and looked at Sarah. She seemed stumped as well.

"I, uh, do freelance security work," Sarah managed to answer. Chuck's eyebrows popped up.

"You mean like a bodyguard?" Jen asked, eyes wide. "You don't seem like the bodyguard type."

"You'd be surprised," Chuck mumbled under his breath. This was followed by a warning kick to his leg courtesy of Sarah's foot.

"Actually, I can do that kind of work if needed. I'm pretty good with knives," Sarah replied. "I make sure things that are supposed to be secure stay secure. Sometimes I secure people, sometimes things, sometimes information. I either perform the security myself or I coordinate with others. It depends on the job." Both Chuck and Sarah were very still as they watched Jen for her reaction.

"Interesting," Jen seemed to consider this information for a moment and then smiled. "I bet you're good at your job. Do you have a card? I might have a job for you."

"I, uh, just gave out my last card yesterday and haven't picked up more from the printer yet," she lied. "Chuck, why don't you give me one of your cards and I'll just write my cell phone number on the back?" Chuck nodded and pulled out one of his Nerd Herd cards and handed it to Sarah. She wrote her name and cell number on the back and handed the card to Jen. "That way you have both Chuck and my information."

"Great! Here's my card, too," Jen said, sliding her card across the table toward Sarah. Chuck looked over Sarah's shoulder to see the card which said "Jen Hatch, Researcher."

"I thought you were a librarian," Chuck said.

"I am. I've done just about every kind of job there is in a library, short of cleaning the bathrooms. I love working in libraries, but I'm not working at one right now. I need to be available to do the mom thing for my daughter, so I don't want to be tied down with a full time job." She picked up a French fry and dipped it in ketchup before she popped it in her mouth. She swallowed and continued, "I love doing research, so I pick up research jobs here and there for a little extra cash. I work mostly with academic types; professors, graduate students, people like that. Occasionally, I get a corporate client. That's actually what I might want to have you help me with, Sarah."

"Really? What would a research librarian need with security?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"Well, I got a call from a woman who said she had recently taken over her father's business. She was going through some of his old papers and documents and ran across a really old looking manuscript pages. She didn't know what they were, but she thought they might be valuable. Apparently she is not in communication with her father and wanted to get some information about these pages. She asked around for some help in finding out more about these pages and somehow she found me. She asked me to do some research on these pages and sent me a couple of pictures of them. I did some research and told her they were probably connected with the Voynich manuscript."

At the words "Voynich manuscript," Chuck's eyes closed. He saw flashes of pages with weird writing and even weirder drawings of strange plants, naked women, astrological signs and fantastic creatures. He shook his head a little and opened his eyes.

Jen looked over at him, eyebrow raised.

"Sorry. Thought I needed to sneeze," Chuck recovered quickly. "Don't you hate that feeling?"

Sarah put a calming hand on Chuck's arm. "What exactly is the Voynich manuscript?" she asked.

"An antique book dealer by the name of Wilfrid Voynich acquired a manuscript in 1912 from a Jesuit College in Rome. They needed some money, so they sold it and some other manuscripts to Voynich. Immediately he knew it was something he had never seen before. The letters are like no other language on record, they are like ciphers or hieroglyphs. To this day it has not been deciphered or translated. And there are really weird drawings of unidentified plants, strange astronomical objects, naked women frolicking in bathtub, stuff like that. It was written on vellum, which is animal skin pages used for books and scrolls." Jen glanced at both Chuck and Sarah to make sure they weren't bored. Both showed interest in what she was saying, so she continued.

"Based on different factors, Voynich estimated that it was written in central Europe in the late 13th century. Some scholars think it was written later, but recent radiocarbon dating shows it to be from the early 15th century."

"Where is it now?" Chuck asked.

"It was donated in 1969 to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale and is still there. In the old days, you used to have to go there to look at the thing or only see photos of it in books. Now the whole works in on the internet. Anybody can look at it. Ah, the wonders of the internet," Jen smiled, taking a sip of her drink.

"So this woman might have undiscovered pages from this Voynich manuscript?" Sarah asked, intrigued.

"Yup. Many experts think that there are indeed missing pages, but no one knows for sure since no one even knows what the manuscript says or even its purpose," Jen answered.

"That's really interesting. But since you told the client what you think it is, isn't your part done? Are you an expert on the Voynich manuscript? You seem to know a lot about it," Sarah said.

"No, I'm not an expert at all. What I just told you is what I learned when doing this recent research. I figured once I told her what I thought the pages were, she would find an expert on the Voynich manuscript and have them look take over. I have a history degree from UCLA and am also a research librarian, so I do have some experience with manuscripts, but I'm no expert. I told her that and she didn't seem to care. She told me she wanted me to continue to work on authenticating the pages and offered me A LOT of money to work on it for her. I told her I would do it, but I have some reservations about the whole thing."

"What are you concerned about?" Chuck asked.

"Well, first off, the whole, 'I'm not an expert' thing. Why me? What good does my word do in the manuscript world? I'm just a research librarian. I have no standing with that community."

"So you think she has a hidden agenda with these pages," Sarah ventured.

"I don't know. Maybe," Jen shrugged. "Her business is legit, though. It's a huge multinational company headquartered in Moscow. Her father was some kind of industrialist who has recently disappeared. She's taken over the family business."

"How did you find out about her and what happened to her father? Did she tell you?" Chuck asked.

"Well, no," Jen said as she leaned forward and dropped her voice. "When I talked to her, she only gave me her name and the fact that she had taken over her father's company and found these papers. I like to know who I'm dealing with when I'm hired by a client, so I did a little research. If they don't tell me themselves, I'll find out on my own," Jen said as she leaned back. With a conspiratorial smile, she popped another French fry in her mouth.

Jen leaned forward again. "Her name is Vivian MacArthur. I googled her and found out that she lives, or at least lived, in London. She had some swanky party awhile back and there was a piece about it in a local online newspaper. It was a creepy masquerade party of some sort," she said as she grimaced and shook her head. "I guess it was a whole weird 'Eyes Wide Shut' thing. I don't get it," continuing to shake her head.

"I know, right?" Chuck exclaimed. "So creepy!"

Sarah smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Are you two sure you weren't separated at birth or something?"

Jen laughed. "Ah! Well I suppose I could be Chuck's…much older sister. If Chuck was an 'oops baby.'"

They all laughed at the idea of the 5 foot 2 inch woman with straight blonde hair and blue eyes being related to the 6 foot 4 inch man with curly brown hair and brown eyes. "Yeah, we look so much alike," Chuck laughed.

"Yeah," Jen agreed. "Anyway, it sounds like it was quite the party. The police were called out to Vivian's estate when gunshots were heard. Apparently, rich people really know how to party."

Chuck was taking a sip of his drink when she mentioned the gunfire and he nearly shot soda out his nose. Sarah turned to pat Chuck on the back and gave him a warning look.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's okay," Sarah replied. "You know the old joke. Apparently Chuck has a drinking problem."

Jen smiled.

"So tell us how you found out about Vivian's company," Sarah continued.

"When I talked to Vivian on the phone, she gave me the name of her lawyer if I needed anything and she was unavailable. His name is Riley. I dug a little and found out that this Mr. Riley is the agent for service of process for a corporation called Volkoff Industries. I looked at the Statement of Information for a Foreign Corporation filed with the California Secretary of State in Sacramento and found out that Vivian MacArthur Volkoff is listed as the chief executive officer. The Statement filed last year had Alexei Volkoff as CEO, so it wasn't too hard to figure out what was what and who was who. Although Alexei seems to have dropped off the face of the earth."

Sarah smiled approvingly. "The ninja librarian strikes again."

"Well," Jen smiled sheepishly, "you just need to know where to look."

"So, in summary, you aren't sure if you should work for Vivian Volkoff anymore because you don't feel qualified and she is keeping information about herself from you. Is that a fair assessment?" Chuck said, taking tenuous pull from his straw.

"Yeah, I would say that pretty well sums it up," Jen answered with a wry look.

"So the security would come in…" Sarah started.

"I just don't trust her and if I had someone helping me out on this, I would feel better about doing the rest of the job. I could really use the extra money. Car insurance for a teenage driver isn't cheap and neither is college, which is just around the corner." She put the straw of her drink to her lips and took a drink. The slurping noise eventually made indicated that the cup was empty. "Also, if the manuscript pages Vivian has are authentic, they are probably worth a lot of money and need to be kept safe while they are in my possession."

"She's going to let you have control of them?" Chuck asked with surprise.

"Well, kind of. I told her I couldn't travel to where she is because of family commitments. We were supposed to meet recently when she was in LA, but apparently after she got here the meeting she went to went south and she left before she got the pages to me. Now she's busy working on something else and can't get away," she said as Chuck and Sarah gave each other a knowing look.

"She has agreed to courier the pages to LA. I'll only need a short time with the pages themselves. I need to digitize them and get some samples of the vellum and ink to date test. Then the courier will take them back. It may only be for a few hours, but they are my responsibility as long as I'm working with them. I'd hate to get clunked on the head and have them stolen while I'm responsible for them. I don't know how secure Vivian's courier will be, so I can't rely on that. So, Sarah, do you think you can help me out? I can pay you a percentage of what Vivian will pay me."

Sarah and Chuck looked at each other. They both knew that they had to find out what Vivian Volkoff was up to, so Chuck gave a slight nod of affirmation. Sarah nodded back.

Sarah turned her attention back to Jen. "Sure, I can help you out. I'd be happy to. I haven't been working much with all the wedding stuff going on, but I think I can squeeze you in," she answered with a wink and a smile.

Jen exhaled as a grin split her face. "Yay! This will be fun, Sarah! You're a lifesaver." She glanced down at her watch and exclaimed, "Yikes. Look at the time. I've got to get home and let the dogs out before I go get my Sarah from school. Then I've got to get her to dance team practice."

Jen looked down at the card in her hand. "Sarah Walker, I've got your number so I'll call you and we can get together and figure out the best way to handle everything." Flipping the card over, she looked at it and said, "Chuck Bartowski, thank you for loaning me your lovely wife-to-be for this job."

Chuck smiled at Jen and grabbed Sarah's hand under the table. She squeezed his in return, smiling up at him.

Jen hesitated. "Would it be okay if I didn't tell Vivian about you helping me? I don't want her getting suspicious that I might be suspicious...You know what I mean," she rambled.

"That's fine," Sarah replied. "No one needs to know."

_I don't think Vivian would be too thrilled if she found out we know about this anyway_, Chuck thought to himself.

"Alright you two, I'm out of here. Sarah, I'll call you. Bye!" Jen began to slide out of the booth when a woman with a tray full of burgers and fries stumbled, sending its contents directly toward her. With the reflexes of a cat, Jen caught the tray, saving its contents save one lone French fry that fell to the ground. "That was close! Here you go," she smiled to the woman as she handed the tray back to her.

"Ninja," Chuck and Sarah whispered under their breaths as Jen waved to them as she walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful and encouraging reviews. Keep 'em coming!

I don't own Chuck. Just goofin' around.

Chapter 3 – 641.873

They laid in bed, their legs tangled together, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. That was the perfect way to end the day. There was a comfortable silence as they both turned the events of the day over in their minds. Chuck heard Sarah take a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. He pulled her closer and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Not sure if it was a sigh of contentment or concern, he whispered, "Something on your mind?"

"Kind of. I really like Jen. She seems funny and cool. I don't have a lot of friends and I was kind hoping…" she stopped.

"You were hoping that she could become a friend. But you're concerned because…"

"Because, maybe I'm just paranoid, I'm afraid that she is really in cahoots with Vivian and that she'll end up being bad."

"Did you just use the word, 'cahoots' Agent Walker?" Chuck laughed.

She gave him a playful slap on the chest. "Yeah. So? I'm trying to expand my nerd vocabulary."

"I'm not sure if 'cahoots' is nerd. Depends on the kind of nerd. Maybe more _Blazing Saddles_ nerd than _Star Wars _nerd. 'A' for effort, though."

"I'm serious, Chuck," she began again. "I love Ellie like the sister I never had, but she's busy with Devon and Clara and being a doctor, we don't get to talk much. You and I are getting married soon and I would like to have someone I can go to for advice and talk about stuff. Someone like Jen who has been married for awhile."

"And your afraid Jen might be…less than trustworthy," he ventured.

"Yeah. I mean, what are the odds of this random person coming into the Buy More and then us ending up at lunch together where we find out she is working for the very woman who is the bane of our existence? It just seems too easy," she sighed again in frustration.

Truthfully, the thought had crossed his mind as well. "Sarah, I know you have a hard time trusting people. I get that and I'm not asking you to trust her…yet. Maybe she is exactly who she says she is. We'll find out more tomorrow at the briefing. I'm sure Beckman has her analysts looking into Jen's background to see if there is anything troublesome going on. Let's just see what happens."

"Yeah, because with us, everything always goes exactly the way we want," her words dripped with sarcasm.

This time it was Chuck's turn to sigh. He pulled her close again. He hoped that this time it would go exactly the way she wanted.

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The next morning, Chuck, Sarah and Casey were in Castle and stood in front of the bank of video monitors. General Beckman's face filled the largest center screen. She looked directly at them as she addressed them.

"Good morning, team," she said primly.

"Good morning, General," they replied in unison. Chuck stood with this arms folded in front of him, Sarah to his right and Casey to her right.

"Our analysts have been looking into the background of Jen Hatch, the woman you met yesterday and is now working for Vivian Volkoff. So far everything she has told you checks out." General Beckman pushed a button and Jen's California driver's license popped up on one of the smaller screens. "She lives in Pasadena with her husband, Mark, a software engineer, and their daughter, Sarah, age 15." Mark's license popped up on another screen. He was a nice looking guy with brown hair and blue eyes. Sarah Hatch's high school photo ID filled a third screen. Long blonde hair, blue eyes and a sweet, braces filled smile radiated back at them.

"Wow," Chuck said. "She sure looks like her mom." Sarah and Casey nodded in agreement.

"That's definitely her daughter," Sarah said with a hint of relief in her voice. Chuck looked over at her and gave her a small smile.

General Beckman continued. "Ms. Hatch graduated from UCLA with both an undergraduate degree in history and a graduate degree in library science." Beckman's eyebrow popped up when she saw the agents' eyes widen in surprise. "I know. Who knew there was such a thing as library science?" Their faces relaxed into smiles.

"Her passport shows a trip to England about two years ago with her family. Other than that one trip, she has not left the country," the General said. "We have looked at both Ms. Hatch's cell phone and home phone records and found that she has received two phone calls from Vivian Volkoff. So far she has placed one call back to Ms. Volkoff. The timing of these calls coincides with the information she related to you yesterday, agents. Agent Walker, you are to continue to work as Ms. Hatch's security in connection with the manuscript pages that may or may not be connected with the Voynich manuscript."

"Yes, General," Sarah nodded.

"General, do your analysts have any idea what Ms. Volkoff might be up to regarding these manuscript pages?" Casey asked.

General Beckman frowned. "That is an excellent question, Colonel Casey and we don't yet know. There is the theory that she will try to sell them to make a lot of money, but that seems too straight forward for her. That's why it is critical that Agent Walker build this relationship with Ms. Hatch so that we can ascertain the agenda of Ms. Volkoff."

"General," Sarah began, "Ms. Hatch told me she would be contacting me soon to figure out how best for her digitize the manuscript pages and take some samples. Is there anything specific I should try to influence her to do with the pages, like where to take them to get them digitized?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary," the General replied, removing her glasses. "She probably has plenty of connections in the area, so we will let her take the lead on that. Be discreet, Agent Walker. We don't want Ms. Volkoff finding out about your involvement with Ms. Hatch. She is the only link we have to Ms. Volkoff right now, so be vigilant."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah nodded again.

"General, what are my orders?" Casey asked. "Surely, you don't plan on sending Walker on this mission without backup?"

"Of course not. And don't call me…," Beckman said with a smirk.

Three jaws simultaneously dropped.

"Nevermind. Continuing on," the General said forcefully to snap them out of their reverie, "Colonel Casey will be discreet backup for Agent Walker. Ms. Hatch knows you from the Buy More, so she cannot know you are there." Looking at Chuck, the Beckman added, "And no, Agent Bartowski, you will not be going with them on this mission. There really is no reason why you need to be there."

"But, General, I could help…" Chuck started.

Sarah turned to Chuck. "No, Chuck. The General's right. As far as Jen is concerned, you aren't connected with my freelance security work at all. If she needs a Nerd Herder, she'll ask for you to come along. But, I get the feeling she knows what she's doing. Casey will be there. We'll be fine."

He didn't like it, but she was right. He gave a slight frown as resignation crossed his face. "Yeah, you're right. I'll stay at the Buy More," he sighed.

"If there is nothing else…" the General began. There were no questions from the three agents, so the General said, "Good luck, agents," and cut the video feed.

Casey rounded on Chuck. "No sulking, Bartowski," he growled as he headed back upstairs to the Buy More.

Sarah faced Chuck and put her hands on his shoulders. She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a tender kiss on the lips. When they parted, she moved her mouth to his ear. "Don't worry. We'll need that big…brain of yours to figure out what's on those manuscript pages," she whispered seductively.

Chuck wrapped his arms around her waist and crushed her body to his. He leaned in, his lips brushed against her ear. "So, you like my big…brain, huh?" he asked, his hot breath searing her ear. Her breath caught in her throat and he felt her shudder. His lips curled into a smile. "Agent Walker, I think it's time for us to inventory the supply closet," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.

"Mmm-hmm. It hasn't been inventoried since yesterday," she managed to reply.

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Thirty minutes later, Chuck strolled toward the Nerd Herd desk, straightening his tie. Twenty minutes ago, that same tie had been used in a way not originally intended. Not that Chuck was complaining. He was all for innovation.

As Chuck approached the desk, he could see Jeff and Lester huddled over something and spoke in urgent, hushed tones.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Chuck asked.

They both stood up straight and whirled around to face Chuck.

"Hello, Charles," Lester said. "Your ninja librarian friend didn't show up at the library yesterday. But no matter. We were able to find other things to do. Weren't we, Jeffrey?"

"That's right," Jeff slurred. "There were lots of really cool people there."

Chuck saw Jeff trying to focus his eyes. He also saw both Jeff and Lester had three black splotches of ink on their foreheads. "Um, guys, what's with the, um…?" Chuck pointed and waved his finger at his forehead.

Lester blushed. "It's from a due date stamp, if you must know." Chuck's eyebrows shot up. Lester's voice dropped and whispered conspiratorially, "That librarian was right about the book tape, kick stool and due date stamp."

Chuck's eyes grew wide and his mouth formed into an O. He looked over at Jeff, who simply nodded sluggishly, eyes half open.

"Okay," Chuck said loudly. "Now I need a shower." He glanced at the pile of books on the desk. "Did you guys actually check out books?"

"Yes, Charles. We have library cards. We aren't Philistines, you know," Lester huffed.

"Yeah," Jeff added. "I'm a Pisces."

Lester closed his eyes and put a fist up to his forehead. He took a deep breath, moved his hand away, looked at Chuck and continued.

"Charles, the library is a land of wonderful information and inspiration. As Jeffrey and I perused the shelves, we ran across these books and we now know they," he said dramatically sweeping his hand toward the pile, "will change our lives forever."

Chuck looked down to see that the all books were on how to brew beer at home.

"Lester and I will never have to buy beer again. We'll just make it at home. And whatever we don't drink ourselves, we can sell," Jeff swayed.

Chucked leaned over to Lester and asked, "How does he think there will be any left over?"

Lester looked down and shook his head. "Poor, sweet, inebriated Jeffrey," he murmured.

Amused, Chuck looked at the two of them. "So what are you going to brew? Lager, ale, bitter, pilsner, porter, stout?"

Jeff and Lester looked at each other in confusion. "Whatever has the most alcohol in it," Jeff replied.

"We haven't started reading the books yet, Charles. But seriously, how hard can it be? Water, alcohol, food coloring, right?" Lester asked, waving his hands to make his point.

Chuck narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did either of you take chemistry in high school? Do you know the word, 'ferment'? Does that sound familiar to you? At all?"

"Isn't that what Yosemite Sam called Bugs Bunny?" Jeff ventured.

Chuck stared hard at Jeff, trying to catch his meaning. Chuck suddenly rolled his eyes. "No, Jeff. That's 'varmint'. I said 'ferment'," Chuck sighed. "Fermentation. You know, when a carbohydrate is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide…" he trailed off when he was greeted by blank stares.

Lester sneered. "Oh, look at me. I'm Charles Bartowski. I went to Stanford. I use big words!"

One side of Jeff's mouth raised to form a sloppy smile. "What do you think? We're stupid? Of course we know about fermentation," Jeff said using his fingers to make air quotes around the word 'fermentation'."

Chuck pursed his lips together and nodded his head. "Uh huh. You know what, guys? You're on your own. Good luck with that." _Oh, this will not end well, _Chuck thought to himself as he walked away.

When Chuck was gone, Lester turned back toward the books and hissed to Jeff, "Jeffrey, look up this fermentation thing."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah was sitting at a table in Castle, finishing up some paperwork. She was still having a hard time concentrating after her and Chuck's impromptu "inventory" of the supply closet. She let a smile form on her lips as her mind wandered, thinking about how his hands brushed up against her…

The sound of her ringing phone made her jump. Crap. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat and said in a professional voice, "Hello. This is Sarah Walker."

"Hi, Sarah. This is Jen Hatch. How are you? I hope I didn't call at a bad time."

"Oh, hey Jen. I'm good. And no, you haven't called at a bad time," _although I couldn't have said the same thing thirty minutes ago_, Sarah thought to herself.

"Good. I think I've got everything set up for Vivian MacArthur's manuscripts to be processed. I made some calls and got it all worked out. I have friends in high places, you know," she joked.

Sarah smiled into her phone. "I bet you do. So, what's the plan?"

"Can you meet me at the Buy More tomorrow morning at 9?" Jen asked. "Don't worry, we're not going far. It's only about at 45 minute drive from Burbank, depending on traffic, of course," she added.

Sarah's mind raced. She quickly considered mission needs and confirmed to herself that she and Casey could get security in place by tomorrow. "Sure, I can meet you. Where are we going?"

"Saddle up, Sarah! We're headed for Westwood!" she whooped enthusiastically.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N – Greetings all! Thank you to all who have been reviewing and/or reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it.**

**Chapters 4 and 5 were originally one big chapter. But in the end it seemed better to split them up. I tried something a little (holding thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart) different in this chapter. I hope you like it. Please review. Everyone who writes these stories appreciates them, more than you know.**

**I don't own Chuck or any other product placed within this story. We all know product placement makes the world go round.**

Chapter 4

It was another beautiful morning in sunny southern California. Traffic helicopters flew overhead, advising radio listening commuters every 10 minutes that it would be some time yet before they would arrive at their destinations. There was always a Sigalert somewhere and the domino effect it had on the whole freeway grid was astounding. But traffic was a given in LA and that's just the way it was.

The sun warmed Sarah's face and she heaved a contented sigh as she leaned against her sleek, black sports car. Her thumbs were hooked through the front belt loops of her jeans and her right foot was crossed in front of her left. She wore black pants, a purple top and the sunglasses she wore when she and Chuck robbed the Bank of Macau. That was a really fun mission. And Chuck looked really sexy in his suit and overcoat. She let a small smile cross her lips.

"What, Sarah?" Chuck asked, with a glance her direction. "What are you smiling about?" Her smile was infectious and caused a grin to spread across his face. Chuck mirrored Sarah's stance as they waited in the Buy More parking lot for Jen to meet them. It was a few minutes before 9 and Chuck was there to keep Sarah company while she waited.

She turned and looked at him, her smile wider. "I was just remembering how much fun the Bank of Macau job was. You're a pretty sexy bank robber," she replied, her voice husky.

Chuck grinned back at her. "That _was_ fun. You didn't look too bad yourself. Of course you could wear a plastic trash bag and make it look good."

She laughed. She added playfully, "Are you challenging me, Agent Bartowski? Ooooo. Like _Project Runway_. Hmmm. Should I use Hefty or Glad bags? Oh, and the variety of colors! White or dark green. Maybe dark green the next time I need camo." She moved her hands to her hips, shot one shoulder out and leaned forward to strike a model pose. Her lips gave Chuck a "model" pout.

"Very creative, Agent Walker. However, I would be more interested in what you would have on underneath said trash bag," he added with a wicked grin.

Sarah pulled her sunglasses down her nose and peered over them. She looked directly into Chuck's eyes and said in a sultry voice, "Who said I would be wearing anything underneath?"

Chuck gulped and tried to suppress the 'eeeep' that nearly escaped his throat. He could not stop the blush that overtook his face.

Sarah chuckled and pushed the sunglasses back up to the top of her nose. It was just too much fun to mess with him like that. She returned to her previous stance and once more leaned against her car.

She heard a car pull up. She turned her head see Jen arrive in a Rav4. Jen turned the engine off, opened the door and jumped out of the car. Her eyes were huge and she let out a low whistle. "Is this your car?" she asked in wonder. She was practically drooling.

Sarah grinned. "Yeah, you like it?" Sarah loved this car. She missed her Porsche, but this was an _excellent_ car.

"You have a Lotus Evora?" Jen asked in a low tone, reverently. "It's…just…wow!" Jen breathed in awe. Jen walked around it slowly, taking in the beauty of the car. "I saw Jeremy Clarkson test drive it on _Top Gear_. He loved it." Her face changed from a look of awe and wonder to one of shyness. She asked quietly, "Can we go in your car? I was going to drive because I know where we're going, but it would just be wrong to not drive _this_ car." Her eyes pleaded with Sarah's.

"Of course we can take my car. I was hoping you would want to," she laughed. Jen let out a squeal of delight. She literally jumped up and down, clapping her hands like a six year old with a new bike.

"But don't ask to drive it," Chuck warned her. "She won't even let me drive it." He looked over at her. "As a matter of fact, she never let me drive her old car either."

Sarah just gave him sly look. "Yeah, not happening, Big Boy," she teased. "The Nerd Herder is plenty car for you." He shot her a look of mock injury.

"Okay, let me just get my computer bag and we can take off," Jen said as she leaned into her car and grabbed the bag from the passenger seat. She shut the door and hit a button on the key fob. A high pitched beep indicated the car was locked and the alarm set.

Her computer bag slung over her shoulder, she walked to where Chuck and Sarah were standing and smiled. "You're looking rather badass today, Sarah," Jen said.

Sarah grinned and looked down at her. Jen was wearing a black top, black jeans and black Chuck Taylors. "And you are looking particularly ninja today yourself."

Jen eyes danced as she laughed and said, "Ha! 'Badass and Ninja.' We could fight crime!"

Both Chuck and Sarah busted out laughing. _It looks like 'Badass and Ninja' could give Team Bartowski a run for its money_, Sarah thought to herself.

"Hey, Chuck! Good to see you," Jen smiled up at Chuck. "And you are looking particularly nerdy today. Did you do something different with your tie?"

He nearly choked as Sarah tipped her head down to try to hide her grin. Jen's eyes narrowed and flicked back and forth between the two of them. Her eyebrow crooked up, but she said nothing.

Seeing his opening, Chuck changed the subject. He smiled down at Jen and said, "You know, I could get the day off and go with you. I could be there for technical support."

Sarah uncrossed her feet and pushed herself away from her car. She turned and stood in front of Chuck. She rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "We'll be fine, won't we Jen," turning back toward her new friend.

"Yup. They have lots of technical support where we are going, so if there is a problem, they can help us. Besides, who will help all those people here who need your expertise? I doubt Jeff and Lester will be much help," Jen rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's true," Chuck said with a rueful smile. "Oh, by the way, you haven't heard. Jeff and Lester checked some books out from the library." An amused look crossed Chuck's face.

Jen couldn't hold back the sound of surprise in her voice. "Really? Well that's great! Maybe there's hope for them yet. Do you know what books they checked out?"

Sarah knew what was coming and only smirked and shook her head.

Chuck nodded. He said with a chagrined look, "They checked a bunch of books out on how to brew beer at home."

The looks that passed over Jen's face were priceless. First there was confusion, followed in succession by shock, horror, bewilderment, amusement and finally resignation. She sighed, "It's a free country. They have the freedom to be as idiotic as they want. I just hope they don't hurt themselves or anyone else in the process."

"I don't think they'll get very far," he laughed. "Jeff thought 'ferment' was a name Yosemite Sam used to call Bugs Bunny.

Jen and Sarah looked at each other in confusion. Jen's eyebrows knitted together in thought. Then Jen started to laugh. "Varmint!" Sarah laughed and shook her head.

"What a coupla maroons," Jen said in her best Bugs Bunny voice. All three shook with laughter.

Sarah was the first to regain control. "We better get going, Jen. At this rate, we'll never get there."

"You don't have to tell me twice to get in this car." She dramatically put on her sunglasses and said, "Let's roll!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Sarah smiled. She gave a wave to Chuck as she got in the car and fired up the engine. Chuck waved and saw a huge grin on Jen's face as Sarah raced the car out of the parking lot.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were headed west on the 134 with the final destination of Powell Library on the campus of UCLA. Traffic wasn't too bad this time of the morning. They had left late enough in the morning that most of the serious commuter traffic was done and the Sigalerts canceled. Sarah smiled to herself when she glanced over and saw the look of sheer joy plastered on Jen's face. She didn't know if she had ever seen someone so happy to ride in a car in her whole life.

"This is such a cool car! Do you see the looks of envy when we go by?" The glee was obvious in Jen's voice. And they went by everyone. Sarah smoothly changed lanes as she came up on slower cars and then rocketed past them.

"I'm not cool enough for this car, though," Jen said dejectedly. She absently rubbed her hand over the leather seat and looked at the dials on the dashboard.

Sarah was surprised. She thought Jen was really cool. "Really? Why do you think that?"

"For one thing, I'm in my 40's. It screams midlife crisis. And it's just not badass to have to sit on a pillow to see over the steering wheel," she said matter-of-factly.

Sarah couldn't help but laugh. Jen tried to put on a hurt face, but was soon laughing, too. "It's okay," Sarah said. "And anyway, I'm 'Badass' and your 'Ninja', remember? I'm not sure you would even need a pillow. The seats aren't that low."

"I don't know. Maybe," Jen replied noncommittally. She let out another dejected sigh and looked out the window.

A plan was already forming in Sarah's head.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were cruising down the 405, going over the Sepulveda pass when Sarah finally worked up the nerve to talk to Jen about something. She glanced over at Jen and asked, "So Jen, how long have you and Mark been married?"

Jen continued to look out the window at the passing scenery and answered, "Almost 19 years. We've known each other for almost 20."

"How did you meet?"

Jen smiled. "I was working at a reference desk and he came in one day needing some help. I helped him and then he left. Then he came back the next 4 days straight with more reference questions. He wouldn't let any of the other librarians help him. If I was busy, he would wait for me. It was cute. He was cute. We've been together ever since."

Sarah took a deep breath and asked in all seriousness, "How do you make it work? How do you stay married? There's so much divorce, so many broken homes." She barely whispered, "Abandonment."

Jen nearly missed the last word and looked over at Sarah's profile. Sarah kept her eyes on the road ahead of her and felt the tears threatening them.

"Sarah, I'm no Dr. Phil," Jen started. Sarah raised an eyebrow and glanced her way. "You know what I mean," Jen smiled. Then her face turned sober. "All I know is that on the day I married Mark, I took a vow, a solemn promise. And I keep my promises. So when it gets hard," she looked directly at Sarah, "and sweetie, it will get hard," Sarah stiffened at the certainty in Jen's voice, "I remind myself of my vow to Mark. I promised 'to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part.' And that's what I do. Sometimes I have to be intentional. Because it's not always going to be rainbows and unicorns."

Sarah took ragged, deep breath. Jen put a hand on Sarah's upper arm and continued, "Sarah, I don't know you and Chuck very well. I don't know your backgrounds, your families or your baggage. Everyone has crap in their lives. But I can tell you this. You two will make it. Because I see in each of you the two things you feel for each other: love and respect. You have those two things. You will go the distance."

Sarah felt a wave of relief wash over her. She wiped a tear from her eye and she gave Jen a weak smile. "Really?" she asked tentatively.

"Really," she answered with conviction.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Next time on Chuck vs. the Ninja Librarian:

_Jen grinned. "Gee, Sarah. You're like nerd Kryptonite. You render helpless every nerd you meet."_

_Sarah blushed. "It's a gift," she laughed._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you again for all who are reading, reviewing, alerting and favoriting this story. It is so rewarding to received such a positive response. And thank you for the PMs. What a wonderful community of Chuck fans.

I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 5

The Lotus meandered through the residential streets of Westwood. Most of the streets close to campus were lined with apartment buildings. Some were new, most were not. Regardless as to the age of the building, rent was not cheap. There would be a maximum number of students per apartment allowed, and sometimes more. The more people living in a given apartment, the less rent paid per person. Not only were these apartment buildings close to campus, the campus was situated next to Bel Air, an area with some of the most expensive homes in the country. Incongruously, within a half mile of some of these multimillion dollar homes, there sat fraternity houses that looked like they belonged in a war zone rather than Westwood.

Jen knew all the shortcuts through the circuitous and hilly streets around campus and soon had them parked in a lot not too far from the library. They had to walk a bit, but not too far. It was mid morning and there were just a few students hanging out around the student union. Most of the students were either in class or still asleep.

Jen told Sarah earlier that Vivian Volkoff's courier would meet them by the Shapiro Fountain in the quad between Royce Hall and Powell Library. There, the manuscript pages would be handed off to Jen. They walked up Bruin Walk until they came to a path that cut across an expanse of grass, up the hill toward the quad and Powell Library. Sarah was glad she wore flats today. She had done it so she wouldn't tower over Jen since her height could be intimidating. It turned out, though, there was a lot of walking involved at UCLA and she was thankful for comfortable shoes.

They approached Powell from the west. They turned a corner and Sarah stopped in her tracks. She found herself facing the iconic Royce Hall with its two massive Romanesque brick towers soaring into the cloudless blue sky.

Jen smiled with pride. "Pretty impressive, isn't it? That's Royce Hall. When you see a picture of UCLA, this is what you see. This is Powell Library," Jen said, turning her attention to the building right next to them. Powell Library stood directly across the quad from Royce Hall.

They walked past the entrance of Powell, toward a grassy area a little ways away. Sarah scanned the area, looking for Casey. She saw him pushing a cart full of snack food down a sidewalk heading toward a side entrance of the library. He wore a tan jumpsuit and matching tan ball cap that said "UCLA Vending" on the front. Arrangements had been made for Casey to be inside Powell restocking vending machines while Sarah and Jen were working with the manuscript pages. He would watch the exchange between Jen and the courier and then move inside once the two women were inside as well. Sarah caught Casey's eye gave him a slight nod.

"Jen, I don't want them to know I'm here with you, so I'm going to go sit on the library steps right over there," Sarah said looking toward the steps to indicate where she would be. "If there is any trouble, I'll be right there to help. If I don't think it is a good idea for us to enter the library together, just go ahead and go in. I'll meet you at the office inside the library as soon as I can."

Jen took a deep breath and slowly blew it out.

A look of concern crossed Sarah's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jen said with a weak smile. "It's all so 'James Bond,' you know? I'm not used to this. I'm just a librarian."

Sarah put a comforting hand on her arm. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. Okay?"

Jen took another deep breath, steeling her resolve. "Okay," she said, this time with more confidence. "You better move before they see you."

Sarah nodded and moved away about 20 yards and sat down on the steps. Glancing around, she saw Casey seemingly rearranging packages of mini chocolate donuts, but knew he was watching over both she and Jen. Both Sarah and Casey's earwigs would pick up everything Jen and the courier said as Sarah had earlier, unnoticed by Jen, slipped a small bug into her computer bag.

Jen ambled over to the fountain and sat down on its edge. It looked more like a reflecting pool than a fountain. Water flowed gently over four small steps and ended up in a large semi-circular pool. She watched the water flow for a moment, then turned, pulled a book from her computer bag and nonchalantly began to read. She glanced around occasionally but otherwise seemed absorbed in her book. She had just turned a page when a large man in a business suit carrying a brown leather briefcase walked up and sat down near her. He sat the briefcase down between them.

Sarah's posture on the steps on the library never changed, but she murmured into her comm, "Casey, I think our guy is here."

"Copy. I see him," Casey replied.

"Are you Jen Hatch?" The courier asked quietly without looking at her.

"Yes, I am," she replied. "Are you here on behalf of Ms. MacArthur?" she asked, her eyes never leaving her book.

"Yes. The pages Ms. MacArthur has asked you to examine are in the briefcase," he said. "You understand your instructions, yes?" When he heard a quiet "yes," he continued. "There is a phone number inside the briefcase. Text me when you are finished with the pages. We will meet here again and you will return the documents to me."

"You're not going to stay with me?" she asked.

"No. Ms. MacArthur is concerned that too many people around these pages will draw unwanted attention. However, I will not be far away."

Jen reached over and took the briefcase by the handles and stood up. With the briefcase in her hand, she strode toward the front steps of the library. Sarah noticed Jen's lips pressed tightly together as she passed Sarah's position on the steps. Jen did not look at Sarah and Sarah let her pass as she kept a covert eye on the courier who had not yet moved. He waited about 30 seconds and then followed Jen into the library. As he passed, Sarah stood up, brushed off the dirt from her pants and followed the courier into the library. She followed him as he climbed two sets of stone stairs and walked toward a cluster of leather chairs in a study area in the rotunda. Students in various states of consciousness were ensconced in most of the chairs. Finding one empty, he sat down and pulled out his phone. He sent a text and then grabbed an abandoned copy of the _Daily Bruin _and began reading the school newspaper.

Sarah stood off to the side. She seemed to be looking for a book on one of the shelves but was actually keeping an eye on the courier. Satisfied that he would stay there until Jen contacted him to retrieve the briefcase, Sarah headed back toward the entrance and then down several more flights of steps. "Casey," she said in a low voice into her comm, "the courier looks like he is going to wait in the study area of the rotunda on the second floor. I'm on my way to meet up with Jen on the ground floor."

"Copy that," Casey said. "I entered the building at the east entrance and am on the ground floor as well. I may not have eyes on you when you are in the office. Copy?"

"Copy. I'll let you know if anything comes up," Sarah said quietly.

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Sarah descended to the ground floor and made her way through the stacks toward the office where Jen was working. She found the office and looked through the open door to see Jen wearing white cotton gloves and carefully laying fragile looking pages out on a table. The office was a fairly large room with two desks and a large table in the middle. One of the desks was covered with papers, manuscripts, and books. The other desk held a computer, scanner and printer. Abandoned computers and other equipment were on the floor lined along the walls. Doors of a supply cabinet stood open. Its shelves were full of library and computer supplies.

Sarah knocked on the open door to get Jen's attention. Jen turned around and said, "Hi, Sarah! I'm glad you found me okay. It can be kind of a maze down here. Come here and take a look at these," she said with excitement shining in her eyes.

Before she moved, Sarah's eyes flicked toward the other person in the room. A man about Jen's age, not much taller than her and wearing glasses and a brown cardigan, bent over the table looking closely at the pages. He was careful not to touch them. Jen caught Sarah's unspoken question and glanced over at the man.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jen said. "This is my friend, James Ward. He works here and was nice enough to let me use the library's equipment for my little project. I've known him since library school. He's cool," Jen emphasized the word "cool" to indicate that he wouldn't say anything about what they were doing. "James, this is my friend, Sarah Walker. She's come to keep me company today."

"Hi, James. It's nice to meet you," Sarah said as she moved forward and extended her hand.

"Hello, Sarah," James said, still looking at the pages. He began to straighten up and said, "It's nice to…gah," finally looking at Sarah, "meet…you…too," he stammered. He looked like he had just been struck by lightning.

Jen rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. "Shake her hand, dummy," she hissed. James pulled himself together and moved around the table to offer a weak smile and a damp handshake.

Jen grinned. "Gee, Sarah. You're like nerd Kryptonite. You render helpless every nerd you meet."

Sarah blushed. "It's a gift," she laughed.

James just continued to stare during this exchange, his mouth agape. "James, come on," Jen said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back toward the table. "We don't have all day. Let's get to work."

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Jen walked over to the supply cabinet and reached in to gather some supplies. She grabbed a sharp cutting tool and tweezers and put them on the table. She rolled a gray, round metal kick stool in front of the cabinet and stood on it. The small wheels of the stool disappeared under Jen's weight, as the bottom rim of the stool touched the floor, stabilizing it. She reached up to the top shelf where she grabbed some small glass vials. She carefully stepped off the stool, placed the vials on the table and gave the stool a shove with her foot. It went rolling into the corner.

Next, Jen took the very sharp cutting tool and cut a miniscule sample of vellum from each of the pages and put each sample in a separate vial. She wrote identifying information on the outside of each vial and put them to into her computer bag. She also took a small sample of ink from each of the pages and put them in the small vials as well, also placing those into her computer bag.

"Oh my god, Jen," James whispered under his breath, sneaking a peek at Sarah. "She's like a 235.3*."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, James. Geez," she whispered back. "Besides, I see her more as an 830.09*."

James sneaked another peek toward Sarah who was leaning against the doorframe, watching them work. Sarah caught James' look and gave a small smile. He blushed and quickly turned his attention back the pages in front of him. "I still say 235.3."

"Whatever, James. Doesn't matter. She's 392.4*." Jen snickered when she saw James' face fall. "Yeah, like you had a chance. Besides, I've seen her with her fiancé. She's crazy in love with guy. And he adores her. You can see it on their faces. They're actually one of the cutest couples ever."

"Even cuter than you and Mark?" James teased.

"Well, of course not," she smiled. Now it was James' turn to roll his eyes.

Jen removed her computer from the computer bag and set it up on the desk with the scanner. She opened it up and turned it on. She smiled with it booted ten times faster than before Chuck had worked his magic on it the other day.

"James, hand me the cable from the scanner and I'll plug it in to my computer. That way the images can go directly into my computer and it won't have any trace of it being on your computer at all," Jen pointed to the cable. She gently picked up the first page and placed it on the scanner. "Let's get these things digitized," she said, starting the scanner.

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Sarah watched Jen and James work together. They had an easy way between them that was almost like brother and sister. She noticed that they seemed to talk in code. She was wondered what that was about when her phone buzzed. A smile crossed her face when she looked down at the screen to see a picture of a smiling Chuck Bartowski.

"Jen, Chuck just texted me so I'm going to wander in the stacks for a few while I text him. I don't want to disturb you while you're working."

Jen looked up from her work, "You're not disturbing us at all, but if you want some privacy, no problem. I'll be done here pretty soon."

Sarah nodded, said, "I'll be back in a few," and walked into the stacks. She idly looked at some of the books on the shelves. She found herself in the "Social Sciences - Marriage and Family" section. She smiled and read Chuck's text.

NrdHrdr: Hey. Howz it going?

SpyGrl: Good. Almost dun. J and friend talk in nerd library language. U?

NrdHrdr: Bored. Jeffster crazy as usual.

SpyGrl: Shocker. Casey stocking vending machines.

NrdHrdr: Can u get me mini chocolate donuts?

SpyGrl: Maybe. If ur nice.

NrdHrdr: When am I not? Miss u. Inventory l8r?

SpyGrl: :)

Sarah heard someone walk up behind her. Jen must have finished her work and came looking for her.

SpyGrl: Gotta go. Luv u.

NrdHrdr: Luv u 2.

"How sweet. The two love birds texting."

The voice made Sarah's blood run cold. She felt dizzy and she turned around and faced him. "Shaw?" she croaked.

"Hello, Sarah," he said smugly.

_Oh my god._ She couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her. "You're supposed to be in jail," she breathed in disbelief.

Shaw smirked. She always hated smirkers. _What a tool._ "There are still a couple of agents loyal to me. They got me out," he said quietly. "I understand congratulations are in order," he tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "You and Chuck are engaged," he looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. "Now is the perfect time for me to exact my revenge. Chuck will forever yearn for what might have been," Shaw said as he pulled a pistol out from under his jacket and pointed it at her.

Her eyes flashed blue fire. Was he serious? "Really? 'Exact your revenge?'" she mimicked. "Who are you, Snidely Whiplash?" she hissed.

"You took my Evelyn from me. An eye for an eye, Sarah. You killed her, I kill you. It's really that simple," he said in a flat voice. His face was like stone but there was a maniacal gleam in his eye.

Sarah could see Shaw was completely insane. A small feeling of panic started to churn in her stomach. If he was crazy, he was unpredictable. And he had a gun pointed at her. She knew she couldn't get to the gun tucked in her waistband without him shooting her. The same went for her throwing knives in the sheath strapped around her ankle. Her only hope was to keep Shaw talking long enough for Casey to get there and help her. She was sure he had heard her over the comm and would be on his way.

"Shaw, come on. We've already been through this. You really need to move on," she said in a frustrated voice. She didn't want to anger him too much, but really, this guy was just plain annoying. "Besides, we're in a library on a large university campus. You shoot me, you'll get caught. How do you think you are going to get away with it?" _Come on, Casey! Hurry up! _

Shaw opened his mouth to respond. Then Sarah heard a sound, like metal hitting wood. Shaw's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumpled to the floor in a heap. Shocked, Sarah looked up from Shaw's body to see Jen, standing where Shaw had been. In her hands, she held a gray metal kick stool sporting a newly formed dent.

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*235.3 – Angel

*830.09 – Valkyrie

*392.4 – Engagement (betrothal)

A/N part 2: I was originally going to have a cliffhanger where Shaw snuck up behind Sarah and then have the part where Jen takes him out with a kick stool at the beginning of the next chapter. But then I was afraid everyone reading this would think it was going to turn into a whole Shaw thing, so I wanted to dispel that concern immediately. Shaw is a loathsome character and I only put him in this story so he could be maimed. Is that so wrong?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well, I seemed to have hit a nerve with some for my bringing Shaw into the story, even if it was only bash him on the side of the head. True, I originally brought him in simply to maim him. I also I wanted to add my ideas as to how he should have been treated on the show (and to throw in a couple of jokes - I'm talking to you, Doc in Oz). As I wrote this chapter, I also realized that Shaw's appearance is used to both move Jen and Sarah's friendship along and to help Chuck and Sarah's relationship grow deeper. Rest assured, however, that after this chapter, he will no longer have a role in this story.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. I really do appreciate the feedback. Please keep it up and let me know if I achieved the above in this chapter.**

**As always, I don't own Chuck. I have, however, used a kick stool. But never as a weapon.**

**Chapter 6**

"Sarah, what the _hell_!" Jen stood holding the dented kick stool in her hands. "Who is this guy and why does he have a gun!" she hissed, her blue eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and confusion.

Over Jen's shoulder, Sarah saw Casey turn the corner at the end of the line of shelves and stop. He quickly backed up around the corner and stood out of eyesight. He had indeed heard Shaw's voice over the earpiece and immediately moved to help Sarah. He peeked around the corner and saw Shaw on the floor and the dented kick stool in Jen's hands. Apparently they had it under control. He pulled his head back and listened.

"Jen, I'm so sorry. This guy is an ex of mine," Sarah said, mortified. "I had no idea he would be here. He's supposed to be in jail."

Jen's eyes flew open and her mouth dropped. "_In jail_?" she whispered loudly. She looked down at Shaw again. Her eyebrows furrowed and a frown formed. "What is he, a stalker?"

_That will work, _Sarah thought. "Yeah, he was in jail because he tried to hurt Chuck and me," Sarah said angrily as she stooped to pick up Shaw's gun. She checked his pulse.

Jen's voice dropped, "Oh, crap! I didn't kill him, did I?"

"No, he's still alive. I hit him in the head with a metal pipe once and he survived. He seems to have a really thick skull. In more ways than one," she added.

Sarah wanted to kick him in the head as he lay on the floor. "What a jerk! I so want to kick him right now!" she seethed.

Jen held out the dented kick stool toward Sarah. "This worked pretty well the first time. Hit him again. I won't tell anyone."

"You're serious," Sarah stated. She looked at Jen and saw no hint of humor on her face.

"The guy came onto a university campus with a gun. He pointed it at you, I saw him. He tried to hurt you before and now he tried to do it here. He deserves it." Jen was clearly furious that the sanctity of a place of higher learning would be defiled by the likes of this piece of human debris.

Sarah took a deep, calming breath and shook her head. "No, I'm not going to hit him again. But I do need to get him out of here," Sarah said, pulling out her cell phone.

"Don't we need to call campus security or the police?" Jen asked.

"No, I work in security, remember? That's why I'm here. We don't want people asking what we're doing here. I know someone who can help me get him out of here quickly and quietly. He will pass Shaw off to the proper authorities. I'll call him and no one will know anything happened here."

Jen nodded and then her brows furrowed in thought. "I'll be right back," she announced, turned and walked back toward the office.

Sarah pretended to use her cell phone, but instead spoke into her comm. "Casey, get something we can use to get Shaw out of here without drawing attention."

"Roger that. I saw something by the vending machines we can use. I'll be back in a minute," Casey replied.

Jen returned with two long cable ties and handed them to Sarah. "There are lots of these in the office. There's so much computer equipment and cables, using these is the only way to keep from tripping over everything." Sarah took the cable ties and fastened them around Shaw's wrists and ankles. She may have pulled them a little too tight around Shaw's wrists as they cut into his skin. She didn't care.

"Jen, go back and finish what you were doing so we can get out of here," Sarah struggled to control her voice. It was all she could do not to beat Shaw to a pulp. She took another deep breath and continued, "I don't want the courier getting nervous because it is taking too long. I've got it under control here. When everything is clear, I'll come back to the office. Wait for me there, okay?"

Jen narrowed her eyes at Sarah. "Did you really go out with this…jerk?" Jen's voice held a mix of confusion and disgust.

"Yeah, I did. It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime." A feeling of humiliation threatened to overtake her.

"I bet it's a doozie," Jen replied. Sarah stared at the floor. "I'm going to go finish up with the manuscript. I'll wait in the office until you come back," Jen said. "Good luck with _this_," she finished, indicating Shaw.

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Sarah looked down at Shaw. What was it with this guy? He really needed to be put in a hole somewhere where no one would ever see him again. Maybe now the powers that be will put him in a bunker in Siberia.

She came out of her ruminations as Casey came up to her, rolling a large garbage can on wheels.

"Hey, lady. You call for cleanup on aisle 7?" Casey joked.

"Ha, ha, you're a riot," Sarah snorted. She did appreciate Casey's attempt at levity and rewarded him with a smile. "Thanks, Casey. Now, get this douche bag out of here. I don't want him screwing anything else up," she said in disgust.

Casey grunted his affirmation and unceremoniously picked up Shaw's limp body and dumped him into the garbage can.

Sarah peered into the garbage can where she saw Shaw sprawled on top of banana peels, apple cores, empty coffee cups, food wrappers and, well, garbage. "Dennis, there's some lovely filth down here," she said in a falsetto British accent. Casey's head snapped up in recognition. Sarah saw a glint in his eyes when he grunted in amusement.

She raised her chin in acknowledgement, then turned and walked back toward the office.

Casey put a lid on top of the garbage can and slowly rolled it down the aisle. "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!" Casey said under his breath. He heard Sarah chuckle in his earpiece.

"I'm not dead," Casey heard a muffled voice come from the depths of the garbage can. "I'm getting better. I feel happy. I don't want to go on the cart."

Casey stopped rolling the can, took the lid off and said, "Oh, don't be such a baby." He pulled out his tranq gun and shot a dart in Shaw's neck. Shaw fell silent. With a smile, Casey put the lid back on top of the garbage can and continued to slowly roll it down the aisle toward the exit.

Jen was putting her computer back into the computer bag when Sarah returned to the office. The manuscript pages had already been carefully placed back into the briefcase. If Jen was bothered by what had happened with Shaw, her face did not convey it. Jen looked up at Sarah as she walked in. Sarah expected to see disappointment or anger in her eyes, but all she saw was sympathy and understanding. A wave of relief washed over Sarah. It was going to be okay.

"That was fast," Jen said.

"I came prepared," Sarah shrugged. "You all set?"

"Yeah. I have the pages scanned onto my computer. Also, James has a librarian friend at the University of Arizona who worked with the guys who did the carbon-14 dating on the original Voynich samples. He's talked to them and they are willing to date my samples. They weren't told the samples might be connected with the Voynich manuscripts, though. They're just dating some vellum as a favor for a friend. They date all kinds of stuff, so these samples shouldn't raise any red flags. "

"What about the drawings and the weird writing," Sarah asked. "Did they look different?"

Jen shrugged. "I only did a brief examination, but they don't look much different. The writing looked similar, if not the same. Obviously, I'll have to look much more closely. With the pages scanned onto my computer, I can easily compare them to the originals." She was silent and looked down at the floor for a moment, thinking. She looked back up to Sarah and asked, "Would you and Chuck be willing to look at the pages with me? I could really use a couple extra sets of eyes."

"I'm sure we can do that," Sarah replied with a smile. _This is perfect. We will be able to get a look at Vivian's pages without raising any suspicion. Hopefully we can figure out what Vivian is up to._

Jen smiled back in relief. "Great! That makes me feel better." Then Jen stuck her hand into a pocket in the briefcase and pulled out a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "This must me the courier's cell phone number. Shall I text him and tell him I'm ready to give the documents back? Has our other 'situation' been taken care of?"

Sarah nodded and replied, "Yeah, mostly. I still have some calls to make after we drop the documents with the courier, but that can wait. Go ahead and text Mr. Courier."

Jen pulled out her cell phone and texted the courier that she was done and would meet him in a few minutes.

She turned to James. "Well, James, thanks for letting me use your equipment. You're a lifesaver," Jen said as she pulled him in for a quick hug. "I'll let you know as soon as I find out anything, okay?"

"Okay, Jen. It was good to see you again. Come by anytime." He leaned forward and whispered, "And bring your friend again, too." Jen chuckled, turned around and headed for the door.

Sarah walked up to James and extended her hand. He shook it and dared to look up into her face. When he made eye contact, she purred, "James, it was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for all your help." Then she winked at him. He jerked and stepped back. He dropped her hand like it was a hot potato. She smiled, turned around and followed Jen out the door.

As they climbed the stairs, Jen cocked an eyebrow and snickered, "That was just _mean_." Sarah grinned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The courier was already sitting by the fountain when Jen emerged from the library. She walked across the grass and sat down near the courier, placing the briefcase on the ground between them, just as before. A moment later, Sarah emerged from the library as well and stood at the bottom of the steps, looking like she was thinking about what to do next. The courier unbuttoned his suit coat and reached his hand inside the inner pocket. Sarah stiffened, but then relaxed when she saw him pull a pair of sunglasses and put them on. As he slid the glasses on, he said, "Do you have everything you need to complete that which was requested by Ms. MacArthur?"

"Yes," Jen replied, not looking at him. Instead, she dug in her computer bag for her sunglasses. She continued as she put them on, "Please relay to Ms. MacArthur that I will let her know my findings as soon as possible. My best estimate is that I will know something in about a week."

As the courier leaned over to pick up the briefcase, he said, "I will relay your comments to Ms. MacArthur." He stood up, buttoned his suit coat and walked across the quad. He headed toward a black SUV with tinted windows parked nearby. He opened the back door and climbed in. The SUV then slowly drove away.

Sarah saw Jen's whole body relax. Sarah could relate as she felt her tension ebb away as well. Sarah scanned the area. When she was sure all was clear, she walked over to Jen and sat down next to her on the edge of the fountain.

"Well done, Jen. I think you have a knack for this stuff," she said, meaning it.

Jen guffawed, "I don't know about that. But I am glad that's over." She looked over at Sarah. "Now I'm hungry," she said, looking at her watch. "It's lunchtime. There's an In-N-Out over on Gayley. How do you feel about an animal style Double Double?" she asked with a grin. "My treat."

Sarah grinned back. "You don't have to ask me twice. Let's go," she answered as she stood up and started back down the hill toward the parking structure.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were enjoying their lunch, having ignored the stares and snickers. Sarah enjoyed the easy banter, but felt like there was a bit of tension between her and Jen. She needed to explain Shaw to her, but was reluctant to open up. The whole affair was embarrassing and humiliating.

As if Jen read her mind, she said, "So, tell me about the creep I beaned in the library."

Sarah sighed and looked up from her burger. She was comforted when she saw in Jen's blue eyes no condemnation, only compassion.

Sarah shrugged and looked back down at her burger. "Chuck and I hit a rough patch. We weren't together. Shaw was a guy I worked with…I guess it was mostly just convenience. He seemed okay at first. He seemed to have it all together, you know?" She smiled sadly. "He was courteous and professional, really even-keeled and straight laced. Later, he turned into a complete jerk."

Jen nodded. "So Chuck broke your heart," she stated.

Sarah's eyes snapped up to meet Jen's. "What makes you think Chuck broke my heart?"

Jen chuckled and said, "Sarah, you just said this guy was convenient. If _you_ had broken up with Chuck, you would have been ready to move on, not go out with someone simply because he was just there. Besides, he sounds like he was the 'Anti-Chuck.'"

A puzzled look crossed Sarah's face. "The 'Anti-Chuck'?"

"Sure, it happens all the time," Jen answered. "People go for the opposite of the person that hurt them. Sometimes from good to bad, usually from bad to good. From what you've told me, Chuck is passionate and caring and funny and goofy and emotional and a complete nerd. From the looks of this Shaw guy, he has none of those qualities. He seems like an emotionless, self-centered, humorless cretin," she said and shrugged as if it was completely obvious.

Sarah jolted at this revelation. "That makes perfect sense," she replied in wonder. "I've never thought of it that way before." She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had wondered why she had gone out with someone like Shaw. In the end, though, it sounded like what she had done was actually kind of normal. She smiled to herself. "So, did you have an 'Anti-Mark'?" Sarah asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Jen laughed, "Oh, yeah I did! Actually, Mark was the 'Anti-Steve.' I hadn't met Mark yet, but Steve, the guy I went out with before him, was confident in himself to the point of arrogance. He only cared about himself and how our relationship was good for him. I didn't see it at the time, though," she said rather sheepishly. "Anyway, I guess our relationship wasn't doing it for him anymore, so he dumped me and started dating someone else. I was crushed and humiliated. But, within a couple of months I met Mark and the rest is history. Mark is the most humble, considerate and self-sacrificial guy I have ever met."

Sarah's eyes widened as a thought struck her. "I'm the 'Anti-Jill.'" Jen's eyebrows rose. Sarah explained, "The girl who broke Chuck's heart in college was a short, brainiac nerd with long, brown hair and glasses. She was disloyal, crushed his soul and left him a vulnerable mess for years after that." _Maybe Jill and Shaw could occupy neighboring bunkers in Siberia_, she thought to herself.

"See, there you go!" Jen said with a chuckle. "That just proves you two are perfect for each other. You both have already been involved with the kind of people that are bad for you. Now you found in each other the opposite of that. A match made in heaven."

Sarah smiled and nodded. She and Chuck were indeed a match made in heaven.

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They left the In-N-Out and walked back to where the Lotus was parked. As they approached the car, Sarah tossed the keys to Jen. Jen caught them and looked over at Sarah with a confused look on her face.

"What's this?" she asked suspiciously.

"You are going to drive us back to Burbank," Sarah said matter-of-factly.

"Um, no, I'm not," she answered, tossing the keys back to Sarah. "No way."

"Yes, you are. I need to make some phone calls to make sure Shaw has been taken care of. I can't do that when I'm driving." She held the keys out again and said, "So if you want to get home in time to pick up your daughter at school, you are driving us back to Burbank."

Jen hesitated for a moment, then a huge grin split her face and her eyes danced. "Well, if you insist. I do need to get back on time," she sighed in mock self-sacrifice as she grabbed the keys from Sarah's outstretched hand.

Jen sat down in the driver's seat of the Lotus and looked over the steering wheel. She was sitting a little low, but not too bad. She reached to the left side of the seat and found a button that raised the seat up a couple more inches. "There, that's better. Look, no pillow!"

Sarah laughed from the passenger seat and said, "I didn't know you could do that with the seat."

"Hey, don't rub it in," she snickered. "We short people know all the tricks. That kick stool saved your bacon today."

"Touché," Sarah laughed as she fastened her seatbelt.

Jen turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw the enormous grin on Jen's face.

"Ready?" Jen asked.

"Ready," Sarah replied.

Jen nodded and put the Lotus into gear. She let out the clutch and tore out of the parking lot and into traffic like she was the Stig. A smile curled on her lips as she smoothly changed gears up and down, depending on the traffic. She easily navigated the car back to the 405 and then opened it up.

Any concerns Sarah had about Jen's driving ability were quickly dismissed. She settled back in her seat and called Casey.

He picked up on the first ring. "Casey."

"Hey, it's Sarah. What is the disposition of our 'friend'?"

"Are you secure?" Casey asked.

"No, but it's okay," she answered.

"Are you on the phone and driving? Hands free I hope," he scolded.

"No, my friend is driving," she said, glancing over at Jen who was smoothly transitioning the Lotus from the 405 to the 101.

Casey let out an amused grunt and said, "You let Jen drive your car? Don't let Bartowski know about that. He'll pout."

"I know. I can deal with that. I have my ways," she said mischievously.

"Ugh," he grunted again. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know."

Sarah giggled. "Just tell me what's up with Shaw."

"I threw his sorry ass in the trunk of the Crown Vic, which now smells vaguely of garbage by the way, and took him to the Federal building on Wilshire. They have a holding facility there. Beckman's got people on the way who will take him back to Washington. She mentioned something about a vacancy in bunker in Siberia."

"Well, that sounds just right for him. Is there anything else I need to do? Do I need to call…Diane?" Sarah glanced over at Jen who was so enthralled at driving the Lotus she was completely oblivious to Sarah's phone conversation.

"No, I gave her a report on what happened. She said Shaw had only just escaped and made a beeline for you. That's why we hadn't heard about it yet."

"That makes sense. Thanks, Casey. See you later," she finished.

"Roger that," Casey said as he ended the call.

Sarah was relieved that Shaw was out of her hair. "My friend transferred Shaw to the proper authorities," she told Jen. "They are going to transfer him to a more secure facility. I don't think he'll be bothering me anymore."

"That's good," Jen replied. A sly grin curled on her lips as she said, "I may not always be there to protect you."

Jen drove the Lotus into the Buy More parking lot and stopped it next to her Rav4. She turned off the engine and handed the keys back to Sarah. Her eyes still shone with excitement.

"Thank you for letting me drive your car. It was an awesome experience," she said happily.

"It was my pleasure. It was nice to be a passenger for once."

"Maybe you should let Chuck drive it once in awhile," Jen replied. She looked at the dubious look on Sarah's face and they both said simultaneously, "Nah!"

They climbed out of the car and Jen retrieved her computer bag. She turned off the alarm and put the bag on the passenger seat. She turned to Sarah and gave her a quick hug. "I've got to get going. I need to get these samples to the U of A right away. Can I call you and set something up for us to get together and examine the manuscript pages?"

"Of course. Call me anytime." Sarah smiled and said, "Thanks for saving my bacon today."

"Anytime," Jen smiled back at her. She got into her car and her smiled disappeared. "My car is so _boring_," she sighed, looking longingly back at the Lotus. "Ah well. Back to reality." She started the car and said as she pulled away, "See ya!"

Sarah gave a small wave as her new friend drove away. She set the alarm on the Lotus and walked toward the entrance of the Buy More.

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Sarah had done this more times than she could count. She walked through the automatic doors of the Buy More, stood just inside the electronic security gates and scanned the store for Chuck. She always checked the Nerd Herd desk first, but he was rarely there. Today was no exception. She glanced around and saw him in a conversation with Morgan, Chuck's bearded little buddy, relaxed and joking around. She started toward them. Like a sixth sense, he looked up from Morgan and met her eyes. And then, she saw it. That smile. Her insides turned to mush whenever he smiled at her like that. Her breath hitched and her smile grew wider.

She closed the distance between them, her eyes never leaving his. The rest of the world seemed to fade away. It was only the two of them. She stopped in front of him, put her hands on either side of his face, her blue eyes burned into his brown ones. The fierce intensity of her eyes stopped his breathing.

"I love you," she said in a voice that was thick with emotion: passion and longing and understanding and hope and commitment. She pulled him down into a deep, passionate kiss, her hands never leaving his face. She knew he was uncomfortable with public displays of affection, but this time she didn't care. The conversations she had earlier today with Jen had served to remind her of all that Chuck meant to her; how he had saved her from herself, how thankful she was to have him in her life and how her future was with him. It was these swirling emotions she wanted so desperately to convey to him.

He seemed at first surprised at the intensity and urgency of her kiss, but then he returned it with equal passion. There was a certainty in her kiss he had never felt before. He had felt something similar to it when she kissed him in the hospital when she accepted his marriage proposal, but this was somehow…just…more. It was stronger, deeper, surer. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss as they melted together.

The spell was broken when Morgan cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "Um, guys? The customers are starting to stare."

They ended their kiss, Sarah still holding his face. She searched his eyes, hoping to see a glimmer of recognition that he understood even a small part what she was trying to express to him. His eyes shone with overwhelming emotion, she knew he understood it all. She nodded, convinced, and took a half a step back. Her hands remained on Chuck's face, their eyes stilled locked. Chuck managed to find his voice and croaked, "Wow, Sarah. Did you miss me that much? That library must have been _really_ boring."

She smiled and answered, "Actually, you'd be surprised."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for the great reviews to the last chapter. I'm glad my **_**Holy Grail**_** references were appreciated. That movie has so many wonderful scenes and quotes, it's a shame not to use them.**

**Keep those reviews coming. It's nice to know you're still out there.**

**As always, I don't own Chuck.**

**Chapter 7**

Two days had passed since Sarah and Jen had made their adventurous trip to the library at UCLA. Predictably, Chuck had utterly freaked out when Sarah told him that Shaw had shown up there and threatened her. Chuck knew that if he ever saw Shaw again, he _would_ kill him. His aversion to guns was overwhelmed by the unmitigated hatred he felt for Shaw. It took some time, but he did eventually calm down when he realized that she was safe and Shaw was on his way to live in a hole in some godforsaken part of the world.

Chuck tried to shake off the lingering negative emotions he always felt when Shaw even crossed his mind. To do so, he focused on the mission at hand. He had come to work early today so he could take a long lunch. Jen was going to be at their apartment around lunchtime to examine and compare manuscript pages and they both wanted him to be there. Chuck was looking forward to getting to know Jen better. Apparently, his ass-kicking fiancée and her kick stool wielding librarian friend had bonded over the unconscious body of Daniel Shaw. That thought made a smile cross Chuck's face. If he was honest with himself, he really wished he could have been there to have seen it.

Chuck unlocked the back door at the loading dock and let himself in. As he walked in, his nose was assaulted by a vile smell. _What was that? _His face scrunched up at the foul smell and he considered going back outside. He knew, however, that he had to find out what from where the smell was coming so he could get rid of it. He walked through the storage room and down the hall toward the break room. Try as he might not to do so, he had to clamped his hand over his mouth and nose to try to staunch the odor. The smell, God help him, grew stronger as he neared it. The stench was definitely coming from the behind that door. He wanted to take a deep breath to steel his resolve before he opened it, but even the idea of something that malodorous crossing his olfactory nerves made the bile rise in his throat. Instead, he shook his shoulders a couple of time, readied himself and opened the door. The smell nearly knocked him off his feet.

His jaw dropped. He did not expect to see this. Jeff and Lester stood near a large pot standing over a propane flame. In it was a roiling, brown liquid threatening to boil over any second.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy!" Chuck shouted. "You can't use propane inside! Are you trying to blow the place up?" He ran over to the propane tank and turned the knob at the top, turning off the supply of gas to the burner. "What are you boiling in there?" he gasped, his face twisted into a grimace.

"Charles, don't turn that off," Lester yelled back. "This has boil, so back off!" He moved to turn the propane back on, but Chuck stood in front of it to block Lester's access. Lester huffed, "Fine, if you must know, we are boiling wort. What you may think is a vile odor, to us is the wonderful bouquet of the birth of beer!"

"Yeah, man, it's like perfume to us," Jeff sneered. "Lay off our brewski. Beer birth is going on in here."

Chuck started to reply when suddenly, the door to the break room flew open and Morgan stood in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth agape at the scene.

"Ah, man, dudes!" Morgan said in exasperation. "You can't brew that stuff at the Buy More! It smells terrible. You're going to drive out the customers. They're going to think we're cooking meth or something back here." He pointed directly at Jeff and Lester. "Guys, get that stuff out of here! Now!"

Jeff and Lester looked at Morgan, then at Chuck, and then back to Morgan. "Fine. We'll remove our wort," Lester seethed. "But when our beer is finished, you won't get any," he said like a petulant five year old.

"Yeah," Jeff scoffed, sticking out his tongue.

Chuck considered that "threat" for a moment. He thought about the potential intestinal disasters Jeffster's brew could bring about and decided that not being allowed to drink their beer was actually a gift from above.

"Come, Jeffrey. Clearly, our brewing skills are not welcome here. Let us take our wort and go," he said, grabbing the pot by one of the handles. He immediately pulled his hand away. "Ahhh, hot!" he hollered as he shook his burned hand. "Jeffrey," he whispered, "could you hand me a pot holder, please," his eyes tearing.

Jeff handed Lester a pot holder and kept the other. They both grabbed a handle of the pot and carried it out of the break room, down the hall and out to the loading dock.

"Morgan, I think setting up a couple of fans might not be a bad idea," Chuck said.

Morgan nodded and replied, "Wise idea, my man. Wise idea."

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Chuck walked into the apartment and dropped his keys on the small table by the front door. "Hey, Baby!" he called to Sarah who was in the kitchen. "Were you able to get some work done from home today?" he asked as wrapped his arms around Sarah from behind and planted a kiss on her cheek.

She turned around in his arms and gave his a quick kiss on the lips. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did. And I made your lunch," she said, giving him another kiss, this one lingering. She reluctantly pulled away from his embrace and moved to the counter to grab the plates that held their sandwiches. He followed to the table where she put the plates on the placemats and sat down.

He winked at her as he sat down. "I love my domestic goddess," he said. She grinned happily back at him as she took a bite of her sandwich. He looked at the table and noticed there were only two plates. "So Jen's not going to each lunch with us?" Chuck questioned, swallowing his first bite of food.

"No," Sarah answered. "She called a little while ago and said she had a couple of errands to run before she came here. She should be here in a few minutes. My guess is she's going to eat at In-N-Out again. I think she has a problem." She winked at Chuck, "We may have to do an intervention."

Chuck snickered. "The first step is to have her admit she has a problem, and I don't see that happening."

"Yeah, I think you're right," she chuckled, shaking her head.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Speak of the devil," Sarah said.

Chuck pushed his chair back to get up to answer the door, but Sarah was already up and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "You stay. I'll get it."

She walked to the door and opened it to find Jen standing there, computer bag over her shoulder. Sarah moved forward and gave Jen a hug. "Hey, Jen. It's great to see you. Come on in," Sarah stepped out of the way so Jen could enter their apartment.

Chuck couldn't recall ever seeing Sarah initiate a hug with another woman before. Maybe with Ellie, but he wasn't sure. He filed that information away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've interrupted your lunch," she said, pointing to the food on the table. "I seem to do that a lot," she added with a smile.

Chuck stood and offered a handshake. "Hi, Jen. It's good to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, again, too, Chuck," she replied, shaking the offered hand. "You two go ahead and finish your lunch. If it's okay with you, I'll start setting up my computer. By the way, can I use the flat screen as a monitor? It will be easier for all of us to see the writing and drawings on the images."

"Sure. If you want to wait, I can help you with that," Chuck said. "I'm pretty good with electronics."

"I'm sure you are, Chuck," Jen said with a smile. "But I've got it. Eat. I'll let you know if I need any help."

Chuck and Sarah sat back down and the table and continued their lunch while Jen set up her computer. "By the way, Chuck, I stopped off at the Buy More on my way here to pick up this cable to plug the computer into the flat screen," she said, holding up the cable. "So, how long have you all been cooking meth in the back rooms?" she asked with a grin.

"What?" Sarah shot him a look of surprise.

"Ha, ha, yeah," Chuck sighed. "I actually have _you_ to thank for that, Jen."

"Me? What did I do?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"You sent Jeff and Lester off to the library where they checked out books on how to brew their own beer, remember?" he questioned her, his voice amused.

"Yeah, I remember that being mentioned," Jen answered slowly.

"Well, when I got to work this morning, they were boiling their wort over a propane flame in the break room. Stunk up the whole place something fierce," he finished with a grimace.

"Oh, no," Jen said and burst out laughing. Then a look of concern crossed her face. "Wait. They were using propane inside? What are they, idiots?" She looked at the deadpanned faces of Chuck and Sarah and bobbed her head, "Yeah, forget I said that."

A confused look crossed Sarah's face. "I don't want to sound ignorant, but what is 'wort'."

"Wort is the brown liquid extract that comes from the mashing process in making beer," Jen said as she plugged the cable into her computer and then into the flat screen. "It has to be boiled to sanitize it and break down enzymes and stuff. Then yeast is added to start fermentation that turns it into beer. Fermentation takes about 2 weeks." She looked over and Chuck and Sarah who were staring at her, mid-chew. "What? I'm a librarian. I know stuff."

Chuck shook his head a little and popped the last bite of food into his mouth. Sarah's plate was also empty, so he stood up and carried their plates into the kitchen. "Well, they were mad that I turned off the propane, so they told me I couldn't have any of their beer when it was done."

"Thank heaven for small favors," Sarah said, meaning it.

"Yeah, no kidding," Jen added.

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Chuck and Sarah sat next to each other on the couch, looking at the flat screen. On it they saw two images set side-by-side.

Jen stood next to the flat screen facing them, as if she were giving a lecture. "The image on the left is from the actual Voynich manuscript," Jen started. "The image on the right is one of the pages from Vivian MacArthur. At first glance, there really isn't a whole lot of difference. The styles are the same. The strange writing is still there and the drawings are still weird and rather primitive. A lot of the drawings in the Voynich manuscript are of strange plants, geometric designs and maybe some astronomy." She moved to her computer and clicked through some of the pages of the Voynich manuscript to show Chuck and Sarah what she was talking about. They nodded as they looked at the strange drawings.

"Now, the strange thing with the pages Vivian gave me is that they all have drawings that look more mechanical, like they're machines or something. That doesn't mean they aren't part of the originals, it's just that it's different." To make her point, she pulled up one of Vivian's pages that showed a more technical but still primitive looking drawing.

Chuck looked at the screen and immediately his eyes rolled and closed as different images flashed through his head. The flash passed and he looked at Sarah. She gave him a questioning look and he very slightly nodded his head.

Jen put another drawing up on the screen and Chuck flashed again. He flashed every time she put a new image on the screen.

Jen turned to them and asked, "So what do you think?"

Chuck jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "I think we've been terribly rude. We didn't ask you if you wanted anything to drink. Where are our manners?" he said nervously. "Jen, would you like anything to drink? Coke, water, Snapple, beer?" he babbled.

Jen stared at Chuck with a befuddled look on her face. "I guess a Snapple would be nice. Thanks," she said, slightly bemused.

"Sarah, Honey, could you help me out in the kitchen, then, to get a drink for our guest?" Chuck's eyes were wide as he looked at Sarah.

"Sure, Sweetie, I'd love to." She stood and said with a smile, "We'll be right back."

Jen nodded slowly. "Okay."

When they got to the kitchen, Chuck whispered frantically to Sarah behind the open refrigerator door, "Sarah, those drawings are schematics for different parts of a Russian nuclear missile."

Sarah's eyes grew wide. "Holy crap, Chuck!" she whispered back. "We have to tell Beckman. Let's see if there is anything else on those pages first though. See if you flash on anything else."

"We also need to get a copy of those images on Jen's computer," Chuck replied. Chuck saw the disappointment cross Sarah's face. He knew she didn't want to violate Jen's trust, but he also knew she would if it was important to national security. "Maybe we can get her to give it to us," he added.

A smile of relief crossed her face. She nodded and gave Chuck a quick kiss on the lips. They stood up from behind the refrigerator door, closed it and carried three bottles of Snapple back into the living room.

"You know, I can leave if you two want some alone time," Jen said with a smirk.

"Ha, no. Sorry. Sometimes we forget ourselves, don't we, Sweetie?" Sarah said to Chuck as he handed one of the bottles to Jen.

"Right, Honey," he smiled nervously. They sat back down on the couch. "Carry on. You have our full attention."

Jen's eyes narrowed as she looked at them both. Then, she grinned and chuckled, "You two need to get married…soon."

They both laughed and relaxed into the back of the couch.

"So, you didn't tell me what you thought about the drawings," Jen continued.

"I agree with you," Sarah began. "Just because they're technical doesn't mean that they aren't part of the original. Maybe the mechanical drawings were all separated from the rest of the manuscript for a reason and never got put back?" she hypothesized, shrugging her shoulders. She couldn't let Jen know the truth about the drawings. Not yet, anyway.

Chuck nodded in agreement. "That makes sense," he said.

"That could be an explanation," Jen acknowledged. "Let's move on to the writing." She put two side-by-side images up again. "Cryptographers and language scholars have studied the manuscript extensively. No one has ever figured out if this is a code or language." Jen clicked on the original manuscript image to get a close up of the characters on the page. "Some think that there are 20 to 30 distinct characters that make up a kind of alphabet. The alphabet doesn't include any characters ever found in any ancient or modern language."

Chuck and Sarah sat on the couch in rapt attention. Jen took a deep breath and continued, "Now, take a look at this," she said as she clicked on one of Vivian's pages and zoomed in on the text. She studied their faces as they looked at the screen.

They concentrated, scanning the image, looking at the seemingly indecipherable glyphs. Then Sarah's face registered surprise. Chuck's face did the same only seconds later.

Jen nodded. "I thought so," she said quietly. "You saw them, too."

"There are some Cyrillic characters sprinkled throughout the text," Sarah said quietly.

Jen nodded again and added, "They've tried to add some glyph elements to the Cyrillic characters to try to disguise them, but when you look closely, they are recognizable as Cyrillic. At least they were recognizable to me. You saw it too, without my prompting, so you've confirmed my suspicions."

"Are there Cyrillic characters on every page?" Chuck asked.

Jen nodded. "Vivian's pages are forgeries," Jen said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. Then Sarah looked back at Jen and asked, "Have you heard back from the carbon-14 guys at the University of Arizona?"

Jen shook her head. "No, but at this point I don't think it really matters. Whoever created these pages could have obtained vellum from approximately the same time period. I think the testing will prove that," Jen shrugged. "I'll have to wait until I hear back from them in the next day or two, but at this point, I think we have our answer. I have to go back to Vivian and tell her they are forgeries."

Chuck knew that couldn't happen. Vivian was clearly up to something and they needed to let her continue on with her plan, whatever it was. They needed to somehow convince Jen to tell Vivian the pages were authentic and see what Vivian's next move would be. Clearly, the same thing had run through Sarah's mind as they both looked at each other with "now what do we do?" looks on their faces. Sarah nodded slightly and turned to Jen.

"Jen, I need to make a phone call. I'll be back in a few minutes," Sarah said.

"Right," Chuck jumped in. "Jen, why don't you and I go through the pages and write down the Cyrillic characters from each page and see if they mean anything while Sarah goes and makes her phone call."

Jen looked at them suspiciously, but nodded in assent. "Okay," she answered simply.

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Chuck and Jen began scrutinizing each page and writing down each Cyrillic letter they found. Sarah left them to their work as she grabbed her cell phone and headed to their bedroom. She closed the door and dialed General Beckman.

"General Beckman," she said flatly.

"General, Sarah Walker here."

"Yes, Agent Walker. What can I do for you?" she asked with no warmth in her voice.

"Ma'am, as you know, Chuck and I have been working with the woman who has been tasked by Vivian Volkoff to examine pages that might be linked to the Voynich manuscript."

"Yes, I remember," Beckman replied. "Go on."

"General, Chuck flashed on the drawings on the Volkoff pages. They are actually schematics of Russian nuclear missile parts. Whoever drew the pictures tried to make it look like medieval machinery. They did an excellent job. Neither Ms. Hatch nor I recognized what they actually were. It was only Chuck's flash that informed us," Sarah explained. "She did, however, recognize Cyrillic letters sprinkled throughout the text on each page. The original Voynich pages do not have any recognizable characters in it at all."

"So she knows the pages are fakes," the General finished.

"Yes, ma'am. She plans on telling Vivian that the pages are indeed forgeries."

"Agent Walker, we can't let her do that. We need to let this continue to find out what Ms. Volkoff is up to. Ms. Hatch is our only connection to all of this. Let me ask you, Agent Walker. Do you trust her?"

Sarah thought back for a moment over her interactions with Jen over the last week or so. There was nothing to indicate that she was anything other than she presented herself to be. "Yes, ma'am, I do."

"Then you must enlist Ms. Hatch's assistance to the completion of this matter, even if it means telling her exactly who you and Agent Bartowski are. Things could get complicated. Do you think Ms. Hatch is up to the challenge? I hear she's pretty good with a kick stool," the general added with a trace of humor in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am. She was instrumental in incapacitating Shaw. She is also knowledgeable, observant and quick thinking. I think she will be an asset to this mission," Sarah said.

"Very well, Agent Walker. Do what you must," Beckman ordered. "Keep me apprised of the situation."

"Yes, General," Sarah answered as General Beckman ended the call.

_Crap_, Sarah thought dejectedly._  
><em>

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Sarah opened the door and walked down the hall to find Jen and Chuck still combing through the pages, writing down Cyrillic letters. Jen switched back and forth between one of the bogus images and a website listing Cyrillic characters. They both turned to look at Sarah as she entered the room. She answered the question that showed on Chuck's face with a slight nod. He gave her an encouraging smile and she gave him a weak smile in return. She took a deep breath and said in a serious tone, "Jen, we need to talk."

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A/N: My sincerest apologies if I offended any home brewers regarding the smell of brewing. I have no personal knowledge of it, so I am relying on what I've read about it. It seems there are two responses to the smell when there is brewing going on. The brewers love it and it doesn't bother them at all. Everyone else does not love it and it does bother them, a lot. That's what I tried to convey here. Also, if what Jen says about the brewing process is incorrect, it is completely my mistake. No, actually, I blame the internet.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you all who have read and reviewed. I love your feedback. So fun to hear what you think. Please keep it up.**

**Don't own Chuck.**

**Chapter 8**

Jen's face was stoic and unreadable. Sarah had spent the better part of the last ten minutes explaining to her that she and Chuck were agents for the CIA. Sarah had even shown her their CIA identification cards and shields in the hope of making it seem more official. Jen had looked at both IDs and simply nodded, her face betraying no emotion.

Sarah and Chuck sat at the edge of the couch, silently, waiting for a reaction from Jen. Sarah's stomach churned as she thought of the different outcomes their revelation might bring. Without Jen's help, stopping Vivian Volkoff was going to be ten times harder than with it. But more than that, she hoped this would not completely destroy her new friendship with Jen. Sarah realized that Jen filled a void in her life she hadn't known she had. Sarah needed a friend. Jen was her friend and was someone she admired and wanted to emulate as a wife and mother. Tears stung her eyes at the thought that she might lose this friendship.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Jen spoke. "You're CIA agents," she stated.

"Yes," they said in unison.

"You work at the Buy More," she said, looking at Chuck.

"Yes, it's my cover. We both have covers. No one is supposed to know we are in the CIA," he answered.

Jen nodded, thoughtfully. "So why are you telling me if no one is supposed to know? Am I in trouble?" she asked.

Sarah let out the breath she had been holding. "Oh, no. It's nothing like that. We actually need your help," she said, hopefully.

"How, exactly, can I do that?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "I'm just a librarian slash researcher."

Sarah looked over at Chuck and he continued. "Do you remember when you asked Sarah to help you with security because you didn't know if you could trust Vivian MacArthur?"

Jen nodded, so Chuck continued, "And do you remember that you found out that her last name was actually Volkoff and that you felt like she wasn't being 100% straight with you?"

Jen nodded again. Chuck took a breath and forged ahead, "Your instincts were spot on. Vivian MacArthur Volkoff is the daughter of a dangerous Russian arms dealer. He is in federal custody and Vivian has taken over the 'family business.'" He stopped, looked at Sarah and then back to Jen. "We think she is using the pages she gave you to examine to sell weapons to enemies of the United States."

At that revelation, Jen became very still. Her brows knitted together as she processed all that Chuck had just said. When she finally spoke, she stated, "You knew Vivian Volkoff was an illegal arms dealer the minute I mentioned her name to you the first day we met."

"Yes," Sarah replied.

"You used me to get access to the manuscript pages so you can find out what Vivian is up to," she said without emotion.

"Yes," Sarah said again, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. _Damn it_. The tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"You need my help to stop whatever it is she's doing," she stated again.

"Yes." Sarah couldn't take much more of this.

Jen stared hard at both of them. It made them squirm in their seats. "What is it exactly that you want me to do?" she asked.

Chuck reached over and grabbed one of Sarah's hands and held it in both of his. He looked directly into Jen's eyes and said, "We need you to tell Vivian that you believe the manuscript pages are authentic."

Jen's face finally showed emotion: shock. "What?" she nearly shouted. "Real Voynich experts will know they're bogus with one glance. No one will want these. They're crap! Why would anyone want them? They're worthless and my credibility will be flushed."

Sarah replied, "Chuck…recognized…the drawings on Vivian's pages. They're schematics for a type of Russian nuclear missile. We think she's going to sell this kind of missile to some bad guys and the pages somehow help her do that. The people who buy the pages aren't buying them for their value as artifacts, they are paying for the information we think is encoded on the pages."

"And paying for the missiles themselves," Jen ventured.

"Yes," Chuck agreed.

"And my authentication gives her the ability to sell the pages for a lot of money without anyone questioning it," Jen finished, putting all the pieces together. "So if I give her my seal of approval, I'm done?"

Chuck shrugged, "Maybe." Here came the hard part. "We need you to find out how Vivian plans to sell the pages and indirectly the missiles. You may only have to speak with her on the phone or you may have to meet with her. It really depends on what she says when you talk to her next."

Jen's eyebrows shot up. "_I_ need to find out? Why me? Why can't you or Sarah do it? You can pretend to be a buyer or something."

"She already knows who we are and that we're CIA," Sarah said.

"And frankly, she doesn't like us very much," Chuck added. "Plus, you already have a relationship with her."

Jen slumped back in her chair and put her hand on her forehead. "Relationship? I haven't even met the woman. I've only talked to her on the phone a couple of times," she said, exasperated.

"We'll do whatever we can do to help you," Sarah said. "Can you help us?"

Jen sat up, her hands on her knees. She looked intently, first at Chuck and then Sarah. Sarah felt her gaze burn right through her. Soon, she would be nothing but a pile of ashes on the couch. Jen dropped her gaze to the floor, shook her head and muttered to herself, "Russian nuclear weapons to our enemies. Not good. Not good at all."

Sarah could practically see the wheels turning in Jen's brain. She waited.

"Do you think the Cyrillic characters we found on the pages are encoded missile site locations or launch codes or something?" Jen asked.

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other and smiled. "Well, _now_ we do," Chuck said.

"So you'll help us?" Sarah asked quietly.

Jen hesitated for a moment, thinking. Then she said, "Yeah, I'll help you. I couldn't live with myself if nuclear weapons ended up in the wrong hands and I could have done something to stop it and didn't." She looked at them and said without hesitation, "I'll do whatever it takes."

Chuck leaned back against the back of the couch and Sarah let out a sigh of relief.

A mischievous look crossed Jen's face. "Do I get a gun?"

"No!" they both answered simultaneously and then laughed. "We don't expect any danger and we will make sure you're safe in any and all situations," Sarah finished.

Chuck stood and said, "Now that that's settled, who wants pie? We've got some in the fridge." He walked toward the kitchen.

"I could use some," Jen said.

"Me, too. Thanks, sweetie," Sarah smiled at him.

Sarah watched Chuck move about the kitchen for a moment and then ventured a glance at Jen. "Are we still friends?" she asked tentatively.

Jen's face showed genuine shock. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because you feel betrayed," Sarah shrugged, looking down at her hands again.

"Sarah, you and Chuck are government agents. You're job is to keep the people of this country safe. You recognized a threat and it's your job to stop it. You did what you had to do. I get that," she said simply. "It's not like you lied to con me out of my life's savings or anything. Now I have the honor of helping you keep this country safe. And, as an added bonus, it's been a blast getting to know you and Chuck. I've had more fun in the last week than I've had in a long time." Her face broke into a grin and her eyes danced when she said conspiratorially, "You should have seen the jealous look on Mark's face when I told him I got to drive a Lotus. It was awesome!"

Tears threatened Sarah's eyes again, this time tears of relief.

The glistening in Sarah's eyes was not lost on Jen who gave her a wink and said, "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm not going anywhere."

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That evening, Chuck, Sarah and Casey stood in their usual positions in front of the video monitor that held the visage of General Beckman.

"General," Sarah started, "We explained to Ms. Hatch that Chuck and I are CIA agents. She has agreed to help us by telling Vivian Volkoff the manuscript pages are authentic even though she knows they are not." Holding up a thumb drive, Sarah continued, "She also gave us copies of the digital images of Vivian's pages for our analysts to examine."

"Very good, Agent Walker," the General said with a tinge of approval. "Will she be able to ascertain the final disposition of the pages?"

"We believe so, ma'am," Chuck replied. "Ms. Hatch will ask Vivian what she plans on doing with the pages when she calls her to tell her they are authentic. Ms. Hatch will make it seem like she is eager to assist Vivian."

The general nodded, thinking. "Col. Casey," she addressed him, causing him to stand up just a little bit straighter. "This is a very delicate and important operation. Ms. Hatch is a civilian. If she needs to meet Ms. Volkoff in person, she will need to be believable, persuasive and courageous. Agent Walker thinks she is up to the task. I want your professional opinion. Do you?" the general asked pointedly.

Casey looked back at the General and nodded without hesitation. "Yes, ma'am. She is quick thinking, resourceful and wickedly dangerous with library supplies. I'm confident that she will be an asset on this mission in any capacity."

General Beckman peered at them over her half-glasses and nodded. "Very good, team. Keep me apprised of the situation. All CIA resources are at your disposal for this mission. We need to take down Vivian Volkoff and this is our chance to do it." Her eyebrow shot up as she said with authority, "Make it so," and abruptly ended the video feed.

After the briefing, Chuck and Sarah went home. They snuggled next to each other on the couch with the TV on, but not paying attention. They were both lost in their own thoughts. Chuck's legs were stretched out in front of him and his stocking feet were propped up on the coffee table. His right arm was draped around Sarah's shoulders. She reached up with her right hand and entwined her fingers with his. Her feet were tucked up under her and she leaned her head back into Chuck's shoulder. It was amazing to her how they fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. She heaved a contented sigh as Chuck pressed a kiss to her temple.

"You like Jen, don't you?" Chuck asked.

That seemed kind of random, but okay. "Yeah," Sarah said simply. She wasn't sure what Chuck was driving at, so she thought she would let him steer the conversation.

"What do you talk about?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

She turned her head a little and looked up at him. "Stuff," she answered vaguely. Now she was going to make him work for it.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Well, you know. Stuff women talk about. NASCAR, football, video games, graphic novels…" she stopped when he shifted his weight to give her a playful shove with his side.

"Seriously, do you do 'girl talk'?"

"Oh, yeah!" she answered in her best teenager, mallrat accent. "My boyfriend, Chuck, is, like, soooo dreamy. He is just, like, sooooo incredibly hot. If he doesn't ask me to the prom, I'm going to, like, just die!"

In a flash, Chuck was tickling her. She shrieked with laughter and tried to move away. She was unsuccessful as he grabbed her around the waist and slid her to where she ended up laying flat on the couch. He maneuvered himself so that he was lying on top of her, his face just inches from hers.

"Very funny," he said with a grin. "What I meant was, is Jen becoming the friend you hoped she would be?"

Sarah's face grew serious. "Yeah. Chuck, I love your family and friends, but I like having a friend who is more my friend than yours. Does that sound terrible?"

"No, it's not terrible at all. I'm glad you have someone to talk to about stuff." A lascivious look crossed his face. "But you don't talk to her about _everything_, do you?"

She gave him an innocent look. "Whatever do you mean, Mr. Bartowski?"

"I don't know, something like this," he said as he attacked her neck with his lips. She put her hands on either side of his head and let out a giggle.

She caught her breath and said, "No. We don't talk about that. We won't talk about this, either," she said, pulling his face up to hers and mashing her lips into his. Their passionate kiss deepened when she opened her mouth and his tongue plunged in. His weight on her and the way he was kissing her, she knew what she wanted. She broke the kiss and took his earlobe between her upper front teeth and her tongue. Chuck groaned and shuttered. Her breath seared his ear when she whispered, "I think it's time for us to go do some things that I can _never_ talk about."

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It was mid-morning and Sarah was still at their apartment. Chuck had gone to work earlier and there wasn't a briefing this morning, so she took the time to take care of some wedding details before heading to Castle. She had just gotten off the phone with the bridal shop. Her dress had arrived so she made an appointment for a fitting. She was excited to try on the dress. She loved the way it made her feel, kind of like a princess. She had previously decided that being an agent _and_ a princess were completely compatible. She just didn't tell anyone about this revelation, however. They wouldn't understand.

She was gathering her things together preparing to head out the door when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Jen. "Hey, Jen. How are you?"

"Hey, Sarah. It's been kind of crazy, actually. Last night I made a boatload of enchiladas for the fiesta my daughter's Spanish class is having today, all the while playing therapist to her because she's was having an existential identity crisis due to the fact she didn't get the part in the school musical she wanted. I got her and the aforementioned enchiladas to school this morning, but then she called me because she forgot her paper on _Romeo and Juliet_ on the printer, so I had to e-mail the thing to her at school so she could print it out in the computer lab. Oh, and one of the dogs ate something gross in the backyard and then proceeded to come in the house and promptly throw up on the rug in the middle of the family room. Mark left at 4:30 this morning for a nerdlinger software conference in San Jose and will be gone for two days." She finally took a breath and finished, "And the worst part of it is, I haven't had any coffee yet."

Sarah snickered and asked, "That's the worst part of it?"

Jen let out a sigh and laughed, "Pretty sad, isn't it." She was silent for a moment, gathered her thoughts and continued, "Anyway, I didn't call you to dump on you about my day. I wanted to let you know I heard back from the carbon-14 guys at the University of Arizona last night."

"What and you didn't have time to call and tell me about it last night?" Sarah asked teasingly.

Jen snorted. "I may be the queen of multi-tasking, but that was even one too many things for me to deal with." Her voice shifted and became serious. "The vellum is from the early 15th century. The interesting thing is the ink is not. They used the same kind of pigment and processes to make the ink, but the carbon-14 dating puts it in the 21st century. You can get the same kind of pigment but you can't fake the age of it. So between the differences we saw in the content of the pages and now the scientific data, it's proof they are forgeries."

"Well, that's what we expected," Sarah agreed. Her brain was whirring as she asked, "Did you tell Vivian you were going to do carbon-14 dating on both the vellum and the ink?"

"Yes, it's standard procedure to test both. Why?"

"Vivian can't know that you found out the ink is 21st century. That will blow the whole thing," Sarah explained.

Jen was silent, thinking. Then she said, "Okay, I'll just tell her that the vellum was dated to the early 15th century as she would expect. I won't mention the dating of the ink, I'll just say that it was consistent with the processes used to make ink at during the same time period, which is true."

Sarah considered that for a moment and then agreed. "That should work. When do you plan on calling her?"

"Now that I have the results on the carbon-14 dating, I plan on calling her right after I hang up with you. Might as well get it over with," she sighed.

"Do you want me to be there when you call her?" Sarah offered.

After a brief moment, Jen answered, "No, thanks, although it's tempting to have backup. I want the conversation with Vivian to be as natural as possible. I'm afraid she'll catch on if I sound too coached." Jen laughed and continued, "I'll just pretend it's a reference interview, like I do with patrons at the reference desk. I'll just ask lots of questions. If she questions me about it, I'll just blame it on my library training. That'll throw her off," she finished with a smile.

"Okay, call me back as soon as you know anything," Sarah said.

"Roger that," Jen said. Sarah smiled.

Sarah paced around the apartment, waiting for Jen to call her back. She could have headed for Castle, but she didn't want to worry about trying to answer the phone if Jen called while she was driving. She waited about 30 minutes when her phone rang.

"Hey, Jen, what's up?" Sarah asked with concern in her voice.

Jen took a deep breath and launched, "Okay, here's the deal. Vivian was ecstatic when I told her I thought the pages were authentic. I gave her the line about the vellum and ink. She never asked about the dating on the ink, so I guess she thinks she pulled one over on me."

"Did you find out what she's going to do with the pages?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, she's going to have a private auction in three days where she will sell them individually to the highest bidder."

"If it's a private auction, then there won't be any more scrutiny on the pages. Plus, the bad guys buying them don't care that they aren't real," Sarah said, thinking aloud.

"Right," Jen agreed. "Have the CIA analysts had any luck in figuring out the codes we found on the pages?" she asked.

"Not as far as I know," Sarah answered. "Why?"

"I think I'm going to play a part in getting the code key to the buyers," Jen said.

"What?" Sarah said, alarmed. "How?"

"Vivian wants me to be at the auction. Since I am the one who authenticated the pages, she wants me to be there to give each buyer a signed letter of authentication for each page sold. She said she has specific identification numbers for each page that I will write on each letter. I think those identification numbers will be the code key for that page. They will be able to decipher the code on the page with the code key written on the authentication letter."

"So you think there is a different code key for each page?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I do. Otherwise, all the bad guys would be able to read each other's pages."

"That makes sense. Where is this going to happen?"

"Vivian has reserved a conference room at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. She told me the hotel people were thrilled at the idea of having a high end auction there."

"Not having it at an auction house avoids any additional scrutiny of the pages," Sarah realized. "Are you okay with being at the auction?"

"Sure. The client asked me to be there and I would go regardless as to whether or not I know she's on the up and up. I assume you and Chuck will be there," she said hopefully.

"Of course. The whole team will be there. Vivian, however, won't know we'll be there, at least not until we arrest her," Sarah said. "I need to get with my team and our boss to form a plan. I'll let you know what we're going to do as soon as possible."

"Sounds good. I'll be waiting to hear from you."

Sarah heard a terrible retching sound over Jen's phone. "Crap! Sarah, I gotta go!" she nearly shouted. "The dog is throwing up again!" The call ended abruptly.

Sarah sat for a moment, staring at her phone._ Jen was right_, Sarah thought to herself. _Family life isn't always going to be rainbows and unicorns_.

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**A/N, part II: I wrote this chapter where Vivian will sell the pages at an auction before "Last Details" where Morgan infiltrates the Norseman auction. Honestly.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: We're in the home stretch, folks. This chapter sets up the action to come in the next. Sometimes you need to have a chapter that helps you get from here to there.**

**Please let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Chapter 9**

The rented CIA room at the Century Plaza Hotel was one floor up from the conference room where Vivian prepared to hold her private auction. There were no surveillance cameras in the conference room, no doubt one of the reasons why Vivian had chosen this hotel in which to hold the auction. Despite the lack of surveillance cameras in the conference room, the CIA room was filled with monitors that flickered with the hacked security feeds of the public parts of the hotel: the parking garages, hallways, elevators and restaurants. The team had received spotty intel informing them which terrorist organizations might have representatives at the auction to purchase missiles, but they didn't know for certain as to who would attend until the auction took place.

Chuck, Sarah and Casey were already in the room when Jen arrived. Jen registered a mild look of surprise when she entered and saw Casey. She remembered him from the day she had brought her computer into the Buy More and nodded her head at him in recognition. "Are you CIA, too?" she asked him.

"No, NSA. Colonel John Casey, United States Marine Corps," he said, extending his hand.

She shook it and said, "Thank you for your service to our country, Col. Casey."

His mouth turned up at the corners, nearly imperceptively and grunted, "Call me Casey. Everyone else does."

"Alright, Casey." She turned to Chuck and Sarah and asked, "Okay, kids. What's up?"

Chuck deferred to Sarah who took the lead to brief Jen. "There are no security cameras in the room where the auction will take place so we need you to where this," she said and held out a brooch that looked like a big yellow daisy. "It has a camera in the center."

Jen scowled at the sheer hideousness of it. "How old do you think I am? That looks like something my grandma used to wear. That will look ridiculous with what I'm wearing," she said and held her arms out. She wore a light gray suit of slacks and a fitted jacket. Under the jacket she wore a light pink silk top. On her feet were light gray heels. The only accessories she wore were her watch, engagement and wedding rings and diamond stud earrings. "I tried to go professional today, and that brooch is not going to cut it." Jen looked thoughtful and then said in a voice like someone shopping for shoes, "Do you have anything in an American flag, perhaps?"

Sarah saw Casey's eyes light up. He walked over to a small case that looked like a wooden jewelry box and opened the lid. He took out a US flag pin and handed it to Jen who smiled in appreciation.

"I wore this on a mission at a swanky party at the Swiss consul's office a couple of years ago," he said. He smiled at the memory. "Good crabcakes."

Sarah smirked. She looked at Jen and continued, "There is a microphone in the flag as well as a camera, so we will be able to see and hear everything going on in there. You can talk to us, too." She pinned the flag to the lapel of Jen's jacket and stepped back to see how it looked. Yes, definitely better than the daisy brooch.

"We need to be able to communicate with you during the auction, as well," she continued. In her open palm, she held out to Jen an earwig and said, "Put this in your ear and you will hear us when we talk to you with these," she said, holding up a headset. "All three of us will be wearing them."

Jen nodded and put the earwig in her ear. She took a deep breath through her nose and blew it out through her lips. "Any other instructions?"

Chuck looked at her and said, "Just relax and do whatever Vivian tells you to do." Understanding her nervousness, he added in all sincerity, "Sarah and Casey are the best. They've saved me more times that I can count. With them in your corner, you'll be fine. I can promise you that."

Jen looked straight into Chuck's eyes and seeing no dissembling, she gave a curt nod. She grabbed her brown leather briefcase which held the letters of authentication and opened the door. "Here goes nothing," she said to no one in particular.

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Jen took the stairs down to the main level of the hotel. She thought about taking the elevator, but knew she would feel better if she kept moving. She strode across the carpeted lobby toward the conference room. She nearly jumped when she heard her name in her ear.

"Jen," Sarah said into her earwig, "before you go in, we want to make sure our comms are still working properly. If you can hear me, I want you to say like you are talking to yourself, 'That looks the like the room right there.'"

Jen said in a low voice, as if to herself, "That looks like the room right there."

"Great," Sarah reassured her. "You're coming in loud and clear. We have a good signal from your flag pin so you are good to go. Remember, we're right here."

"Right," Jen said, again as if to herself. She fought the feeling of panic beginning to roil in her stomach. She took another deep breath. _I keep taking so many deep breaths, I'm gonna hyperventilate_.

Jen squared her shoulders and entered the conference room. A table was set up against the far wall. She could see Vivian's manuscript pages were carefully laid out for display. Another table set up against the adjacent wall held a single open laptop. In the center of the room four rows of four chairs faced the table that held the pages.

There were several men leaning over the table with the pages, examining them closely. She watched a small, avuncular looking man examine a page, look at what appeared to be catalog in his hand and then back down at the page again. The man turned and smiled when a fellow buyer clapped him on the back and said, "Arvin Sloane. I should have known you would be here." Jen watched the two men for a moment but then lost interest as they conferred quietly together.

She continued to scan the room, looking for Vivian MacArthur. She had not yet met her, so she wasn't sure if she was there yet or not. As she scanned the room, she saw standing in a corner the man Jen recognized as the courier she had interacted with at UCLA.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jen saw a young woman approach her. She turned to face her. The woman wore a navy blue suit and white blouse. Her brown hair was cut in a bob and she had large green eyes. _She doesn't look evil_, she thought to herself.

"Are you Jen Hatch?" Vivian asked, offering her hand.

Jen shook Vivian's hand and answered, "Yes, I am. Are you Ms. MacArthur?"

"Yes. It's so nice to meet you," she released Jen's hand. Jen felt Vivian's eyes appraising her. She kept the smile plastered on her face, and hoped it looked natural. "Please, call me Vivian. I must say you look nothing like I expected. You don't look at all like a librarian," she said in a British accent.

A genuine smile crossed Jen's face. "I get that a lot. And please call me Jen." Vivian nodded. Jen continued, "I just want to thank you, Vivian, for allowing me the privilege of working with these exceptional manuscript pages," looking over at the table holding them. "It was an incredible honor to work with long lost pages of the Voynich manuscript."

"You're quite welcome," Vivian said and returned Jen's smile. "You were diligent and efficient. I was so pleased when you told me the pages were authentic. I was concerned you might find otherwise considering the circumstance in which I found them."

"Of course," Jen said. "However, you never know where treasure will be found."

"Indeed," Vivian agreed and smiled. Jen saw Vivian's demeanor change slightly. "Right. On to business." Jen followed Vivian as she moved to the table which held the pages and stood in front of it. "Below each page there is a label which has a lot number printed on it. Each lot is to be auctioned off individually. At the end of each individual auction, you will need to provide each buyer with a letter of authentication. I trust you brought them with you."

Jen nodded and held up the briefcase. "Yes, they're in here."

"Excellent. At the bottom of each letter, I want you to write an authentication code which was generated for each lot. This paper lists each lot's corresponding code," Vivian said, holding the paper out for Jen to take.

Jen took the paper and looked at the spreadsheet. Down the left column were the lot numbers. Down the right column were the corresponding "authentication codes." Each code consisted of two lines of 15 letters and numbers. One line was just above the other so that each character of the top line had a corresponding character just below it. Each string held at least seven Cyrillic characters. Jen nodded and looked back to Vivian and said, "I understand, no problem."

Jen heard Sarah in her ear, "Ask her about how the payment will be made."

"How will I know when to give the letter to each buyer? I mean, I'm sure we don't want them taking off with their purchase before the check clears."

Vivian's eyes danced and she laughed out loud. "No, indeed! The laptop over there," she indicated with her head, "will be used by each buyer to transfer funds directly from their account to mine. I will signal you when the transfer is complete. You will then give the letter to the buyer."

"Will the buyers then be able to take the page and leave?" Jen asked.

"Yes," Vivian said, "if they want. However, some of the potential buyers have indicated that they may want to purchase more than one page."

"Wow!" Jen said with feigned enthusiasm. Her blood ran cold at the idea of enemies of the country with multiple nuclear missiles. And here she was helping with their sale. _I sure hope this works,_ she thought to herself.

"Yes, it's very exciting," Vivian said, her eyes gleaming. "If you will excuse me, I have some other last minute details to take care of before the auction begins. Why don't you set up right over there," she said indicating a chair placed at the end of the table that also held the laptop.

"Of course," Jen said. They smiled to each other as Vivian moved away to greet some of the potential buyers. Several more people had entered the room while Jen and Vivian had conferred.

Jen walked to the table and placed the briefcase on the chair. She stood behind it and glanced around the room. She saw that there were about 15 people milling about. She heard in her ear, "Jen, you're doing great. If you could move around so we could get looks at the people in the room that would really help us. Just walk around like you are killing time until the auction starts."

Jen moved around the room. If she made eye contact with anyone, she simply smiled and nodded. One woman had returned her smile with a glare, but she mostly received smiles in return.

A few minutes later, Vivian announced, "Ladies and gentleman, if you could take your seats, the auction is about to begin." The buyers moved to the chairs in the middle of the room and took their places.

Jen moved back to the table, moved her briefcase from the chair and sat down. She reached into the briefcase, removed the stack of letters of authentication she had signed and placed them on the table. Next to the stack she placed the paper with the codes Vivian had given her. She grabbed a pen out of the briefcase, ready to transfer the codes onto the letters. _Let's get this show on the road_, she thought to herself.

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Chuck, Sarah and Casey had been closely watching the video feed from the camera on Jen's lapel. Chuck had flashed on every face, each one of them a member of some nefarious organization. Sarah had been busy listening to Jen's conversation with Vivian and looked at the code sheet Jen held in her hand. It was clear to Sarah that the "authentication codes" Vivian had given Jen were the encryption keys which would allow each buyer the ability to decipher the missile location information and launch codes encrypted on each page.

Casey ordered the agents present throughout the hotel to grab and arrest any "buyer" that left the auction after their purchase. "I hope they don't leave all at once," Casey muttered to himself. Into his headset mic he said to Jen, "Jen, if you can, let us know if the buyer will be going back to the auction or leaving the room with their acquisition. If they are leaving, we'll be able to grab them. Acknowledge with a cough." Casey heard Jen give a small cough. "Roger that," Casey replied.

When Chuck was sure he had flashed on every face at the auction, he moved to one of the computers to establish a wireless link to copy the account information sent by each bad guy transferring funds to Vivian's account. Even if account information was encrypted, they still wanted to download everything they could. CIA analysts could break the encryption later.

"Okay, I've established a link to copy everything transmitted from Vivian's computer," Chuck said over his shoulder to Sarah. "How's Jen doing?"

Sarah answered, "Okay, I think. It's been so busy in here, I haven't spoken to her in a couple of minutes. Let me check." Into her headset mic she said, "Jen, are you doing okay? If you are, quietly clear your throat."

Sarah heard Jen do so. "Excellent. You're doing great. This will all be over soon and we can go get Double Doubles. My treat."

Sarah heard Jen stifle a giggle into a throat clearing. Sarah grinned and felt a wave of relief when she heard a relaxed sigh from Jen.

The auction had been going on for about 30 minutes and the first three pages had sold for approximately two million dollars each. The bids came fast and furious as the buyers realized there was a chance they could go away empty handed as there were more buyers than pages available.

As each purchase was finalized, Jen calmly wrote the authentication code on each letter and then handed it to the buyer. She was surprised the pen didn't slip through her fingers, her hands were so sweaty. Vivian was busy with the auction, so Jen assisted each buyer with carefully securing their page for transport. When the buyer's page was secure, Jen extended her hand and said, "I hope you enjoy your wonderful piece of history. Thank you for coming," hoping Casey understood that the buyer was leaving the room.

When one of the buyers went to return to his seat, she said, "Aren't you lucky to be able to perhaps purchase more than one page. Good luck."

"Copy. Bad guy not leaving yet," Casey said into his headset. "Jen, our teams have already apprehended the first two guys that left. Keep up the good work," he encouraged her.

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Sarah paced around the room, glancing from monitor to monitor, watching Jen's feed and the hotel security feeds. She walked up behind Chuck who sat at a computer and put her hands on his shoulders. She felt the tension in his shoulders and massaged them a little. He relaxed a little under her touch. "Everything okay over here?" she asked.

"Yeah, we are copying every keystroke from Vivian's computer onto ours. My guess is everything is encrypted, but that will get figured out later." He rolled his head from side to side, enjoying the impromptu massage. "Okay, the tenth purchase just went through. Two more to go." He grabbed Sarah's hands off his shoulders and pulled them down so her arms were on either side of his neck. He placed a kiss on top of each one of her hands and then held them to his chest. She was pleased with herself when she found that she able to enjoy his touch and still focus on the mission.

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The auction was over. Although pleased with the results so far, the team had not yet apprehended Vivian Volkoff. They had captured all of the attendees of the auction, but the mission would not be complete until Vivian was in custody.

They had decided to wait until Jen vacated the room and then storm in and arrest Vivian.

Sarah spoke into her headset, "Jen, you're done, so go ahead and leave the room as soon as possible. When you are clear, we're going in to arrest Vivian."

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A sense of relief washed over Jen when Sarah told her she was clear to get out of there. She returned the few remaining letters of authentication to her briefcase, grabbed the spreadsheet and walked over to Vivian.

"I'm sure you want this back for your records," Jen said. "It looks like my work here is through, so I will be on my way. It was a pleasure working with you, Vivian. Thank you again for the opportunity." She picked up her briefcase and began to leave.

"Wait, there are a couple more things," Vivian began. "I haven't paid you yet. Let me get my checkbook and I'll write you a check."

"Oh, right. Well, okay. I can stay for a few more minutes," Jen said. She couldn't appear to want to leave so quickly that she was unwilling to wait even a few minutes to be paid. That would certainly raise red flags. Jen didn't want Vivian to mail her a check as she didn't want Vivian to have any personal information about her, especially her address.

"Wonderful," Vivian said. She took the checkbook out of her bag and opened it up. She wrote the check, tore it out of the book with a flourish and handed it to Jen. Jen peeked down at the amount. Her eyes widened at the huge amount of money Vivian paid her. "My goodness, Vivian. You are very generous. Thank you so much."

Vivian waved her hand as if the amount was a trifle. "The auction was a great success thanks largely to you. I just want to compensate you appropriately. I would like to use your services again in the future."

Jen's stomach flipped. She smiled as genuinely as she could and said, "That would be wonderful. It would be an honor to work with you again. Thank you." She glanced down at her watch. "I'm sorry, but I really must be going." With that, Jen turned toward the door.

Vivian stopped her with a hand on her arm. "We're nearly done here as well," Vivian said. Jen looked over at the remaining people in the room. Three large men stood near Vivian. _Bodyguards_, Jen assumed. "Wait while we finish up and walk with me to my car," Vivian said in a way that told Jen it was a command, not a request.

Jen nodded and smiled weakly, "Certainly. It would be a pleasure." _Oh boy_, she thought to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Don't own Chuck, etc. **

**Chapter 10**

_CRAP!_ Sarah thought to herself. Adrenaline shot through her body as she realized what Vivian was doing. She ripped off her headset and turned to Chuck and Casey. She growled, "What are we gonna do now? Vivian is using Jen as human shield to leave the hotel!" At the tone in her voice, Chuck jumped up from his chair, knocking it over. She stalked across the room and stood with her hands on her hips, directly in front of Casey.

"Settle down, Walker," Casey said calmly, trying to help her regain control. "We don't have much choice but to go after them while they're still in the conference room. Once Vivian and her goons are on the move, they'll be harder to contain. If Vivian makes it to her car, we'll never get her. Right now we have the element of surprise. It's now or never." He looked at Sarah and saw her shoulders slump a little. "Jen will be okay. She's resourceful and smart. My only concern is that there aren't any library supplies around," he smirked.

Sarah couldn't help but let a small smile form on her lips. She nodded and ran her hands through her hair. "You're right. She's surprised us all along. Maybe she can do it again."

Chuck glanced at the monitor that showed the feed from Jen's flag camera. He saw that Vivian and company were about to leave the conference room. One of the body guards was putting the laptop into the computer bag and the other two men moved about the room gathering the rest of Vivian's things.

"Guys, we have to go! Now!" Chuck shouted, his voice rising in panic. Casey and Sarah glanced at the monitor Chuck was looking at. They immediately understood they only had another minute or so before the room would be empty. Sarah grabbed the Smith & Wesson from her waistband, jammed an earwig in her ear and raced out the door. Casey grabbed his SIG-Sauer and a tranq gun as Chuck snatched up his tranq gun. They tore out of the room behind Sarah. Both guys stuffed their earwigs into their ears while they sprinted toward the stairs. All three agents bounded down the steps two at a time.

"Bartowski," Casey yelled, his feet hitting the floor as he leaped over the last three steps, "you tranq the closest bodyguard. I'll tranq the other two. Walker you cover Vivian."

"Copy!" both Sarah and Chuck yelled back, already in a dead sprint across the lobby. Their feet pounded against the floor as they rounded the corner at full speed, Sarah in the lead, followed closely by Chuck and then Casey. They slowed as they approached the conference room door, weapons drawn. All three stopped and lined up to the left of the door, their backs pressed against the wall trying to regulate their breathing. Casey quickly jumped the gap of the open door and stood on the other side opposite Chuck and Sarah. Casey got Chuck and Sarah's attention and held up three fingers. They nodded. He counted out with his fingers, one, two, three. On "three" they burst into the room and Casey bellowed, "Freeze! Federal agents! Nobody move!"

Chuck aimed and fired his tranq gun, the dart hitting his man in the chest. The guard went limp and dropped to the floor with a thud. Simultaneously, Casey fired his tranq gun at the second guard who seconds later was similarly sprawled out on the floor. Unfortunately, the third guard, Mr. Courier-guy, was standing right next to Jen when the team infiltrated the room. In a flash, he grabbed Jen, wrapped one arm around her throat in a choke hold and positioned her in front of him. He unholstered his Glock with his other hand and pressed the pistol to Jen's temple. Her face went ashen with unadulterated panic. She put her hands up onto the man's arm and tried to pull it away from her throat. It was no use as he was much bigger and stronger than she.

"Stop struggling or I will put a bullet in your head, right now," he snarled, pushing the barrel of the gun harder against her temple.

Feeling the added pressure to her temple, Jen stopped struggling against her captor. She looked at Chuck, Sarah and Casey, her eyes wide with fear. Chuck aimed his tranq gun at Mr. Courier-guy, his face grim. Sarah pointed her Smith & Wesson at Vivian, her eyes darting back and forth between Vivian and Jen. With one hand, Casey pointed his SIG at Mr. Courier-guy and with the other he trained his tranq gun at Vivian. His face showed no emotion, but his eyes flashed, shifting back and forth between Vivian and Mr. Courier-guy.

Vivian's body stiffened and her face darkened with rage when she recognized the government agents before her, their weapons pointed at her. "I should have known you would show up here," she spat. "Everywhere I turn, you all are ruining my life!" She voice dripped with pure hatred, her fists clenched tightly.

"Vivian, let the civilian go," Chuck said softly, his voice soothing. "She doesn't need to be involved with this. We can work something out. Just let her go."

A malevolent look replaced the rage on Vivian's face. "Is she working with you? Oh, that makes sense," she cackled in understanding. She rounded on Jen and spewed her venom, "So helpful, so polite, so stupid!" She stopped and then said in a low, menacing voice, "You knew the pages were forgeries all along." Vivian glared at her and growled, "I guess you aren't as stupid as I thought, although you are pretty stupid for carrying on with this lot. You can't trust them, you know," she said as she shot a look of pure loathing toward Chuck, Sarah and Casey.

Everyone in the room stood perfectly still. The only sound heard was Jen's labored breathing as the arm around her throat tightened.

Vivian spoke in a deadly voice, "Drop your weapons or the librarian dies, right here, right now."

Sarah slid her eyes over to Jen who slumped in resignation. Jen mouthed to her, "Take her out."

Sarah shook her head at Jen, ever so slightly and lowered her gun. She couldn't risk Jen being shot. Hopefully they could buy some time to figure out what to do. Chuck and Casey followed Sarah's lead and lowered their weapons as well. Maybe Chuck would flash and take everyone out. Not really an optimal plan.

"Aw, how sweet," Vivian said, her voice dripping with vitriol. "Put your weapons on the floor. Now!" she shrieked.

They bent down slowly and placed their guns on the carpeted floor.

"Hands up and back up against the wall," Vivian instructed.

All three complied. _Crap_, Sarah thought. Now they were even farther away from Mr. Courier-guy and his gun pressed against Jen's head. Her mind whirred as she wondered if she could grab one of her throwing knives and take out the guy. _It would have to be really fast_, she thought to herself. Sarah was sure of her accuracy with her knives, but if the guy moved even a little, there was a chance she could hit Jen instead. _Crap, crap, crap!_

Vivian looked to her henchman and said simply, "Kill them. We'll use the librarian as a shield in case we encounter any more 'heroes' on the way out of here." She glared coldly at Jen and added, "When we don't need you anymore, we'll kill you, too."

"No!" Chuck pleaded. "Let her go! We're the ones you want."

"No," Vivian said, her voice deadly. "You have ruined my life," she said, looking fiercely at Chuck. "And you betrayed me," glowering at Jen. "You all must die."

Sarah looked at Jen. Her eyebrow furrowed when she saw Jen's expression change from resignation to anger and then from anger to resolve.

Without a sound, Jen put her right arm directly in front of her and then quickly snapped it back, ramming her elbow into her captor's solar plexus. He let out a grunt as air escaped his lungs and the arm around Jen's throat loosened. A split second later she lifted her right foot and drove the heel of her pump into the top of his foot. He hunched over and bellowed in pain. She turned her body slightly to the left, bent her left elbow, rotated it up over her shoulder and launched behind her. The thrown elbow caught him square in the face. The nauseating sound of shattering bone indicated the nose broke under the force of her elbow. The Glock fell from his hand as he reached up to grab his nose. A river of blood gushed from the mangled mess at the center of his face. Finally, Jen balled her right hand into a fist and swung her hand down past her thigh. She punched him in the groin as hard as she could. He doubled over, let out strangled yelp and sank to his knees. With one hand he grabbed his groin, with the other, his nose. He gurgled in pain.

In one fluid movement, Jen scooped up the goon's dropped Glock and pivoted toward Vivian. With her right arm straight out and her left hand supporting her gun hand, she aimed at Vivian and fired. The bullet hit Vivian in the shoulder, the force of which caused Vivian to spin as she fell to the floor. Seven seconds had passed from first thrown elbow to the shot being fired.

A dark, sticky splotch bloomed from just below Vivian's clavicle. She put her hand up to her shoulder, pulled it back and looked at her blood covered hand. "You BITCH!" Vivian shrieked. "You SHOT me!" Her eyes were wild.

Jen stood motionless, the gun still pointed at Vivian. Jen's eyes were like cold blue steel. "It's just a flesh wound," Jen said calmly. "Oh, and I hope my check is still good."

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Chuck, Sarah and Casey stood dumbfounded as they watched a librarian beat the crap out of man twice her size and then calmly shoot Vivian Volkoff. It had all happened so fast, they never had a chance to move.

Jen continued to steadily point her gun at Vivian. "Um, guys," she started, "you might want to secure our 'friend' here," indicating Mr. Courier-guy with her head. "I don't want to have to kick him in the face, but I will if I have to."

That shook the three agents out of their stupor. They bent down and grabbed their weapons. Chuck quickly stepped over the beaten goon and put a tranq dart in his back. The man rolled sideways onto the floor, still curled in the fetal position. Jen's eyebrow went up, questioning.

Chuck shrugged. "I did him a favor."

She cringed and then nodded in understanding.

"I hate you all! I'll get you someday!" Vivian screamed, her eyes blazing with fury. "You can't stop me! I'm Vivian Volkoff, daughter of the most feared arms dealer in the world! I'm invincible!"

"You're a looney," Sarah muttered under her breath.

The four of them frowned as Vivian's continued to spew her vitriol. Finally, Chuck turned to Vivian and said in annoyance, "Vivian, put a sock in it." He leveled his tranq gun at her and shot a dart into her non-injured shoulder. Her body went limp and she finally fell silent. "Pommy bastard," he growled.

"That's better. Now we can think," Casey grunted appreciatively. He said to Chuck, "Bartowski, put some pressure on Vivian's wound. I'll call in one of the teams to get her and her boys out of here." Casey lifted his watch to his mouth and gave orders to the teams still in the building. They were to get Vivian and her three henchmen out of the hotel without calling any attention themselves.

"Walker!" Sarah turned and looked at Casey. He caught her eyes and then pointedly nodded his head toward Jen.

Sarah turned to Jen and watched her look around the room, staring at the four unconscious forms on the floor. Jen took a deep breath and finally lowered the gun. Her legs buckled and she sat down hard on the floor. Sarah rushed over, sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around Jen's shoulders. She gently pulled the gun from Jen's hand, put the safety on and placed in on the floor next to her.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked quietly, her voice thick with concern as she looked into her friend's pale face.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm okay," she replied in a hushed voice. She closed her eyes and sucked in a lungful of air, held it and then breathed it out slowly. She opened her eyes and stared at the floor for a moment before she smiled weakly and said, "Just another day at the office, huh?"

Sarah chuckled quietly. "Yeah, pretty much."

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The room soon swarmed with agents. The area around the conference room was cordoned off from the public and hotel staff. The staff was told that there was a medical emergency of a sensitive nature involving a well know celebrity. This revelation aroused no interest from the staff as a celebrity behaving badly was nothing new.

Chuck continued to put pressure on Vivian's wound until the medical team arrived a few minutes later. He was able to mostly, but not completely staunch the flow of blood from her wound. His hands were covered with her blood when he removed them to allow the medical team access to Vivian. They dressed her wound and placed her unconscious body on a gurney. They rolled her out to a waiting government ambulance where she would be treated in a secure facility.

Meanwhile, Casey needed to speak with some agents in the lobby and needed to keep the room secure as the bodyguards had not yet been removed. He spoke with the two young agents he had positioned at the door. He addressed the one to his left, "Make sure the bad guys don't leave this room until I come and get them." Casey stepped between the two to leave the room, glancing at the one on the right who had just hiccupped.

"Not to leave the room even if you come and get them," the agent on the left replied.

Casey stopped, turned around and clarified, "No, no, until I come and get them." He turned again to leave.

"Until you come and get them, we're not to enter the room," the agent stated.

"No, no. No, you stay in the room and make sure they don't leave," Casey said, his annoyance rising with each interaction. This exchange continued for another minute, the guards clearly confused as to their role. Finally fed up with the two of them, he put a tranq dart in each of the agents. He stepped over their prone bodies on his way out the door and muttered, "I need to go and get a glass of water."

He returned a couple of minutes later with three agents, each one rolling a large garbage can. Sarah looked over at Casey with a smirk. "What?" he said with an innocent look. "It worked the other day." The three unconscious bodyguards were given the Shaw Treatment; dumped into garbage cans and rolled outside to the awaiting black vans.

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The minutes that had passed as Vivian's bodyguards were removed from the room had helped Jen recover. The color had returned to her face so Sarah helped up off the floor. The strength had returned to her legs as well.

"Feeling better?" Casey asked. She nodded. Then he said gently, "Alright, Jen, spill. What agency to you work for?"

Sarah's eyes flashed. "Casey!" Sarah scolded. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, Casey," Chuck chimed in, as he joined the group, wiping his hands with a towel. "What's this about?"

"What just happened here?" he asked, looking at Chuck and Sarah. "You two saw what she just did by herself. She's clearly been trained. I want to know who she works for."

Jen gave Casey a confused look. "Honestly, Casey, I don't work for any government agency. I really am a librarian. I'm not an agent for anyone."

"Alright, I'll play along. How did you subdue that goon twice your size, then?" his eyebrows rose, questioning.

Jen's eyes lowered to the floor and she smiled, sheepishly. "SING," she said, softly.

Casey furrowed his brows and said in confusion, "Sing? Sing what?" She wasn't making any sense.

Chuck and Sarah smiled at each other in understanding. Sarah said, "Casey, it's from a movie called _Miss Congeniality_. Chuck made we watch it just last week. For some reason he thought I would like it," she said, bumping him with her shoulder. "There's a part in it where Sandra Bullock's character demonstrates self defense to an audience. She beats the crap out of Benjamin Bratt."

"I still don't understand where 'singing' comes in?" Casey said, confused.

Jen explained. "Her character shows how to defend yourself if you are attacked from behind. SING is an acronym for the four vulnerable areas of the attacker: solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. SING," Jen said. "I can break your nose with the heel of my hand, too," she said in all sincerity.

Casey still wasn't convinced. "What about the gun? You put one in her shoulder. It looked intentional."

"Sure it was. I don't want to kill anyone." All three of them looked at her, waiting for an explanation. She sighed. "My dad is a retired Marine. He wanted me to be prepared to defend myself in any situation, so he taught me…stuff," she said enigmatically. "I grew up going to the shooting range with him. He's still a gun nut and we go shooting a couple times a month. You can ask him if you don't believe me," she said, her patience beginning to wear thin. "He says I'm one of the best shots he's ever seen. He always tells me, 'Put the bullet where you're looking.' So that's what I do and it seems to work," she said with another slight shrug. She thought for a moment and then added, "I think it runs in the family. I have a cousin who is an NCIS agent in Washington. He was a Marine, too. I hear he's a pretty good shot as well. My dad told me he had been a sniper."

Casey grunted, the hint of a smile forming on his lips. He seemed mollified by her explanation.

"Why didn't you tell us you could shoot?" Sarah asked.

"You never asked," she answered simply. "I asked you before if I could have a gun and both you and Chuck immediately said no. At that point, I knew there was no way you would give me a gun no matter what I said. Besides, I'm just a civilian," she said. "I don't even have a concealed carry permit. I don't want to get in trouble with the ATF."

"The ATF won't mess with you if they know what is good for them," Chuck said with a grin. Jen smiled back at him.

"Are we done here? Do I need to give a statement or anything?" Jen asked, suddenly looking tired. She looked down at her watch and said, "I still need to drive back to Pasadena and pick up my daughter at school."

Sarah looked at Jen with concern. She knew she had to be exhausted and overwhelmed by all that had happened today. "Guys, I'm going to drive Jen back to Pasadena in her car, pick up her daughter at school and then drive them home. Chuck, can you come by their house and pick me up in awhile?"

"Sure, honey. No problem. Casey and I will pack up here and head back to Burbank. I'll pick you up later."

"Thanks, sweetie," she said and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Sarah, thank you. I could have driven home, but I appreciate you doing this for me. I'm feeling a little…" she stopped as if she didn't know how to continue. She fished her car keys out of her briefcase and handed them to Sarah.

"You deserve it, Jen. You were incredible back there. It's my honor to drive you home."

"Thanks, Sarah." She glanced at Sarah and grinned, "By the way, you owe me a Double Double."

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Chuck drove Sarah and himself back to Burbank in the Herder. General Beckman called a briefing to get the details on the Volkoff incident, so they couldn't head home just yet. Chuck had picked Sarah up at Jen's house where he met Jen's daughter, Sarah, and their two dogs, Buster, the yellow lab with a happy, wagging tail and Scooter, a sweet rescue mutt with soulful eyes. They both were disappointed when they didn't get to meet Jen's husband Mark, but he was still at work.

Chuck glanced over at Sarah who was deep in thought, looking out the window at nothing in particular.

"Hey," he said softly. "What are you thinking about? Are you worried about Jen?"

Sarah's eyes focused and she looked over at Chuck gave him a small smile. She shook her head and answered, "She might be a little freaked out right now, but I think she'll be okay. She shifted into 'mom-mode' as soon as her daughter got in the car when we picked her up at school."

Chuck cringed a little, "Was Jen on her about something the minute she saw her?"

"No, that's just it! It was the opposite. Jen asked Sarah how her day was. I expected the teenager sullen grunt of 'fine,' but instead, Sarah engaged with her mom and they had an actual conversation. They talked about how her algebra test went, how much homework she had that night, if there was anything special she wanted for dinner." Sarah thought for a moment and then snickered. "They even made each other laugh when they quoted _Friends_ back and forth, something about 'a point being moo, like a cow's opinion'." Sarah shook her head in wonder. "I've never seen a healthy mother/daughter relationship before."

Chuck didn't respond at first. He thought of his own sister and their mother. Not typical there. Chuck wasn't even sure if Sarah had any contact with her mother at all. Finally, he shrugged and said simply as they pulled into the Buy More parking lot, "Well, it's good to know they exist."

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The members of Team Bartowski stood in their usual positions in front of the video monitor during the briefing with General Beckman. Overall, she was very happy with the end result of the mission: Vivian Volkoff had been apprehended, a host of bad guys linked to terrorist organizations had been captured along with account information and CIA teams were being sent all over the world securing the nuclear missiles Vivian had tried to sell. Beckman had been less than thrilled at the news that a civilian had been placed in an extremely dangerous and volatile situation, but in the end was pleased with its satisfactory resolution.

"General," Chuck asked, "where is Vivian now?"

"She had the bullet removed from her shoulder and is recovering in an infirmary at a highly secure undisclosed location. They have had to keep her heavily sedated. Apparently, whenever she is awake, she starts ranting about wanting to kill the 'ninja librarian'." One eyebrow shot up when she added drily, "Apparently, the crazy apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Knowing smirks crossed each face.

Sarah thought for a moment and then asked, "General, if Vivian is so hell bent on killing Ms. Hatch, doesn't she need protection?"

"Yes, well, that is the other thing I wanted to discuss with you all," Beckman started. "Although Ms. Hatch does not know about the Intersect or the location of Castle, she still knows you are CIA and NSA agents. She also knows about Vivian Volkoff. She will be a key witness if and when Ms. Volkoff goes to trial."

Sarah's heart sank in despair. _Please, no. Not witness protection. _They would probably end up in Albuquerque or someplace like that. Her eyes stung as she thought about Mark, Jen and their Sarah having to leave behind everything and everyone in their lives: their family, friends, jobs, school…her. _I finally have a real friend and now she's going to be gone_, Sarah thought bitterly.

Chuck saw the color drain from Sarah's face and shot his arm around her waist in support.

Beckman continued. "I want Ms. Hatch to join Team Bartowski as a researcher and analyst. She has an interesting mix of skills I believe would be beneficial to the team. She would not, however, be a field agent and would assist you in information retrieval and analysis only. This way we can both stay in constant contact with her to ensure her and her family's safety and use the skills she has recently demonstrated for the good of the team." The general waited a beat and then asked, "Thoughts?"

Surprisingly, Casey was the first to speak. "General, I think Ms. Hatch would be a great addition to the team. If I may, General, she would be an asset in the field as well."

Chuck nodded his head in agreement. "She would absolutely be an asset in any capacity."

A wave of relief flooded through Sarah. "I agree, General. She was an integral part of this mission and it would be a pleasure to continue working with her."

General Beckman nodded her head in approval. "Excellent. Very well, team. Speak with Ms. Hatch and let me know her decision." She looked at them over her glasses and added, "And don't take 'no' for an answer."

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"Seems like old times," Jen smiled as she approached the Nerd Herd desk. Chuck, Sarah and Casey were hanging out at the Nerd Herd desk, waiting for her to meet them so they could go to In-N-Out for lunch. Sarah still owed her a Double Double and they needed to talk to her about joining the team.

Sarah smiled as she gave her friend a hug. Sarah's smile turned to a scowl when she found Jeff and Lester standing next to them.

"Ah, the librarian returns," Lester said in a low voice. "We knew you would. They always come back, don't they, Jeffrey?"

"Um, no," Jeff answered honestly, swaying just a bit.

"Madam Librarian, stay here for a moment please. Jeffrey and I have something we'd like to give you. Come, Jeffrey," Lester said as he started for the back of the store. Jeff shuffled along next to him.

"Morons," Casey muttered under his breath.

Jen looked amused as she asked, "Should I be worried?"

Chuck gave her a half smile and nodded. "I'm thinking, yeah. With those two you never know."

They chatted until Jeff and Lester returned with a bottle of beer. Jeff carried it reverently, as if it were the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. He held it out to Jen and said, "We wanted to thank you for introducing us to the library. Because of the books we checked out, we have learned how to brew beer. This is from our first batch. We hope you enjoy it," Jeff said with all sincerity.

Jen gave them both a genuine smile. "That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you so much. I'm touched, I really am." She took the bottle from Jeff and looked at the words "Jeffster! Beer" on the label in stylized black and silver AC/DC lettering. "I'm proud of you for finishing what you started," she said, meaning it.

"Go ahead, drink it," Lester said expectantly. Then he looked at Chuck, Sarah and Casey. "We want to show these other three people here what they're missing out on because they didn't believe in us," Lester added derisively.

"Oh, well, you know guys," Jen started, "I would love to, but you see, I can't. I'm driving to lunch in a few minutes. You understand." The looks on their faces indicated they did not. But they smiled when she continued, "I open it later, when I get home. I promise."

"Cool," Jeff said. Satisfied that their beer had been well received they sauntered away.

"You aren't really going to drink that, are you?" Sarah asked, her face scrunched up as if she had just seen goat entrails on a plate.

"Gross, no," Jen replied quietly, glancing around to make sure Jeff and Lester had not once again appeared next to her. "I told them I would open it when I got home. I never said what I would do with it after that."

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Chuck had never known Casey to blush. Ever. And yet here he sat, his face flushed red from his neck to his ears. The man had stared down Afghani warlords and once lived in the walls of dictator's lair, but _this_ made him squirm in his seat.

"Bartowski, why didn't you warn me?" he growled. "The noises coming from those two are going to make my ears bleed. And people are staring!" glancing around and dipping his head as if he was trying to hide.

All Chuck could do was give Casey and apologetic look and reply, "I'm sorry. Would you have believed me if I told you?" Casey shot him the stink eye. "If it makes you feel any better, you get used to it after awhile."

Chuck withered under Casey's glare. "Please don't kill me."

Jen and Sarah giggled at them. "Oh, come on, Casey," Sarah said. "Lighten up. It doesn't bother Chuck. Right, sweetie?" giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, well, he's used all the noises you make with all the 'inventory' you two do in the supply closet," Casey shot back.

Chuck's and Sarah's jaws dropped and their eyes widened in shock. Jen choked on her burger, her face betrayed the blush that took over.

Casey smirked, "See, it's not so great when you're on the receiving end, is it?"

Jen wiped her mouth with her napkin and nodded, "Point taken." She eyed Chuck and Sarah sitting across from her and added with a smirk, "Now I know I should always knock before going into any supply closet."

They tried to feign innocence, but failed miserably. Chuck, Sarah and Jen laughed out loud while Casey joined them with an amused, "Heh."

Jen sobered a little and said, "You guys are fun and crazy. I'm going to miss hanging out with you."

The other three at the table exchanged glances. Sarah nodded and began, "Well, maybe you don't have to."

"Well, yeah, we can still go to lunch and stuff, but the other…well, that was kind of cool, too," she said wistfully.

"That's what I meant. You impressed our boss during our last…job," Sarah was careful to craft what she said since they were in public. "She would like to hire you as a researcher and analyst and work with Chuck, Casey and me." Sarah watched Jen's eyes grow wide. "You wouldn't be in the field," Sarah quickly added. "We really would love to work with you and we hope you'll give it some serious thought."

Sarah could almost see the wheels turning in Jen's mind as her face relaxed from the initial shock. She looked thoughtful for a moment. Then a smile spread across her face. "I'd love to work with you. It was great making a difference." She hesitated and said, "I need to talk it over with Mark, though."

Sarah nodded, "Of course. You can tell him what agency you would work for and what your job would be, but for security reasons Casey, Chuck and I need to keep our cover identities in place. Would you be okay with that?"

Jen waved a dismissive hand, "Oh, that's fine. No problem." Her face shone with excitement, "I'll talk to him about it tonight. I'm pretty sure he'll be on board. He's really supportive of whatever I want to do."

Chuck smiled and said, "Jen, we look forward to working with you." He reached back to the pocket of his pants and pulled out a folded envelope. He unfolded it, laid it on the table and smoothed it with his hands. When he was satisfied the crease had sufficiently disappeared, he slid the envelope across the table to Jen. Sarah gasped and then smiled when she realized what it was.

Jen eyed it suspiciously. "What's this?"

"It's an invitation to our wedding. I know its short notice, but it would mean a lot to Sarah…and me…if you were there. We'd love for Mark and Sarah to come, too."

Sarah grabbed Chuck's arm and hugged it to her. He grinned at her and read her lips when she mouthed, "Thank you." He leaned over and kissed her temple and murmured, "You're welcome," into her silky blonde hair.

Jen returned Chuck's grin and said enthusiastically, "We'll be there. Here's the deal, though, Chuck."

He glanced at her with an uncertain look.

"No offense," she said, "but we'll be sitting on the bride's side of the church."

He looked at Sarah's beaming face and then grinned at Jen. "Deal."

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A/N, part two: Thus endeth the story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed telling it. Please review!

You've probably noticed I have left a shameless plotline to bring Jen back in another story. Please let me know if you would be up for that sometime down the road. Or not. I'm sure there are some who don't like outside canon characters interloping into Chuck and Sarah's world. Feedback one way or the other would be greatly appreciated.


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